Images from Ocean Cay

[Tracy Po]

On 10/5/2019 at 9:54 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

MSC has Seaside still heading into Freeport this spring. I suspect that will change also.  

 

Just before we booked our Seaside Feb 1 sailing three weeks ago, the itinerary said Nassau; as soon as we booked, our itinerary changed to Ocean Cay. So I don't know if they were hedging their bets until they were completely sure, but it looks like they are planning to sail to OC at least by February.

[DCGuy64]

There’s a nice blog about OC published back in May that shows some nice shots, including brightly colored housing for the workers. I don’t know I’m allowed to post the link here or not. Here goes:

https://m.icruise.com/blog/msc-ocean-cay-marine-reserve-first-look.html

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I just thought it was a silly reason to cancel not one, but two cruises. My understanding is that there WILL be a dedicated Yacht Club area on Ocean Cay from the beginning, but not the permanent one. That’s good enough for me! 
And @Beamafar, I’m happy to hobnob with the non-YC lot, if they’ll have me. LOL 

 

Of course, you are allowed to think it's silly :).  However; the entire story is that the member was sick of MSC not following through on their promises. I don't believe, if this had been his first experience with msc, that he would have canceled. Remember, he was mislead on the opening not once, but twice before. And msc truly dropped the ball on how they informed guests both times. He booked a third time with a promise from msc that the island would be ready. I think this is a case of he third time MSC failed to follow through was the straw that broke the camels back. Just filling in the information gaps.

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, Tracy Po said:

 

Just before we booked our Seaside Feb 1 sailing three weeks ago, the itinerary said Nassau; as soon as we booked, our itinerary changed to Ocean Cay. So I don't know if they were hedging their bets until they were completely sure, but it looks like they are planning to sail to OC at least by February.

 

What ship? Are you saying that your February itinerary never included ocean cay until recently? I thought all itineraries from November on have had a stop in Ocean Cay booked.

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Of course, you are allowed to think it's silly :).  However; the entire story is that the member was sick of MSC not following through on their promises. I don't believe, if this had been his first experience with msc, that he would have canceled. Remember, he was mislead on the opening not once, but twice before. And msc truly dropped the ball on how they informed guests both times. He booked a third time with a promise from msc that the island would be ready. I think this is a case of he third time MSC failed to follow through was the straw that broke the camels back. Just filling in the information gaps.

Can’t say I wouldn’t be annoyed, that’s for sure! I can remember (somewhat foggily, I admit) people in late 2017 saying that MSC had been talking up Ocean Cay for a while and had “promised” it would be open soon. (I put promised in quotation marks because all kinds of things can happen, within the company’s control and without). As I see it, the difference is that we have actual photos of the work in progress and a firm commitment that it’ll be open on time, including options for excursions, etc. I’d imagine they’re pretty serious about getting this open on time. I’m hoping so, anyway. If all else fails, we’ll go somewhere else and I’ll just have to enjoy my 🍾  🥂 elsewhere! 😊 

[Tracy Po]

4 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

What ship? Are you saying that your February itinerary never included ocean cay until recently? I thought all itineraries from November on have had a stop in Ocean Cay booked.

 

Seaside. Yes, when we were looking at cruises, the Feb 1 sailing said Nassau. Then when we went to book it, it was Ocean Cay. I don't know if this was a travel agency error, or what happened. I just know I was pretty excited about the change, as I was lukewarm on going to Nassau.

[BermudaBound2014]

That's the right attitude for sure! Stopping anywhere is never guaranteed. We were diverted from Labadee a few months ago for a medical emergency. Didn't phase me in the slightest, however there were a LOT of people (it was Allure of the seas so I mean a LOT LOT) who were extremely unhappy.

 

Personally, I think it's better to prepare people that the island may not open, and if it does accept guests in November,  it is reasonable to expect to hear bulldozers and other construction noises which may dampen the experience. If it doesn't pan out and somehow the island is entirely ready, HUGE bonus. But we are much less likely to see MSC taking a bad wrap if people are prepared of the worse case scenario.

 

 I am reading a lot of people (not necessarily all on this forum) stating how the island will certainly be open and ready to receive guests and how it's going to be amazing, etc... An inexperienced traveler may read those threads and head into their vacation with unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations are what ruin vacations more often than anything else and I feel for those people who may not be savvy travelers ready to roll with the flow.

 

Of course, we all know that I'm also skeptical by nature and the fact that we haven't seen any of the island besides the gazebo and lighthouse throws a bright red caution flag for me personally. 

Edited October 6, 2019 by BermudaBound2014

[BermudaBound2014]

7 minutes ago, Tracy Po said:

 

Seaside. Yes, when we were looking at cruises, the Feb 1 sailing said Nassau. Then when we went to book it, it was Ocean Cay. I don't know if this was a travel agency error, or what happened. I just know I was pretty excited about the change, as I was lukewarm on going to Nassau.

 

I think this is some other glitch in the system. The Seaside has been stopping at Ocean Cay each and every week post Nov 2019 since they released her itineraries.

[Beamafar]

6 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

The gazebo is done too 🙂

 

 

Can you imagine the scramble there'll be for shade under there ... Hope that structure is sturdier than it looks!  😱

[Fogfog]

19 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I think this is some other glitch in the system. The Seaside has been stopping at Ocean Cay each and every week post Nov 2019 since they released her itineraries.

Agreed

We are booked on Meraviglia and did it back in July. It's stops for OC have been on the itinerary since the beginning.

 

[Nymich]

On 10/6/2019 at 10:21 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

Lots of pictures of the lighthouse 😉

 

To be fair, the way I remember the person who cancelled his two MSC cruises did so because he lost faith in msc. I believe it was explained that he cancelled cruises out of principle for the way msc has operated.

 

There is a long history of delayed openings with MSC and the company has not been forthright with the delays. MSC stated the island would open back in March of 2016. I believe they sold ships stopping at Ocean Cay right up until darn near that sailing date. Then they officially postponed until October 2018 and that announcement was sketchy at best. But, at that time it was promised to some that the entire island would be ready by November 2019. Several CC members postponed trips fro 2018 to 2019 under these 'guarantees'.

 

I don't think he cancelled because he didn't want to mesh with the 'riff raff', as much as he canceled over the way that MSC has handled the process. Hopefully he will stop by this thread and clarify if I'm remembering the sequence incorrectly.

 

 

 

 

I think this would be me.   I cancelled the first one last September because OC was not opened as was the plan.  The second one I cancelled because the YC area was not ready in Jan. 2020.  We then took that B2B money and booked a French Polynesian Cruise instead while we wait for OC to officially open.   Remember we live in Florida and these cruises are quite easy to do so we never had to take either cruise unless it met OUR criteria which includes the island being open as well as the YC area.  I feel good we cancelled them both we can always circle back.   Looking forward to hearing reports about OC as they are posted!  We also rebooked Seaside for later in 2020.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Nymich

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, Nymich said:

I think this would be me.   I cancelled the first one last September because OC was not opened as was the plan.  The second one I cancelled because the YC area was not ready in Jan. 2020.  We then took that B2B money and booked a French Polynesian Cruise instead while we wait for OC to officially open.   Remember we live in Florida and these cruises are quite easy to do so we never had to take either cruise unless it met OUR criteria which includes the island being open as well as the YC area.  I feel good we cancelled them both we can always circle back.   Looking forward to hearing reports about OC as they are posted!  We also rebooked Seaside for later in 2020.

I hope that others who read your post will consider the important caveats therein. I don't know that the average Caribbean cruiser

1. Lives in Florida and thus has proximity to cruises as you do.

2. Has the ability to sub out a Polynesian cruise which likely involves more time and more $.

I guess what I'm saying is that I see a repeat of 2017, where multiple people on Cruise Critic claimed they were canceling their cruises and had formed a negative view of MSC based on initial reviews of the Seaside. I'm worried that if people don't drill down, they're going to say "oh we shouldn't go on MSC because they keep letting people down like @Nymich." I'm glad you were able to find a different cruise to go on, and I look forward to reporting back here after we do our cruise in December which is supposed to include OC.

[Fogfog]

14 minutes ago, Nymich said:

I think this would be me.   I cancelled the first one last September because OC was not opened as was the plan.  The second one I cancelled because the YC area was not ready in Jan. 2020.  We then took that B2B money and booked a French Polynesian Cruise instead while we wait for OC to officially open.   Remember we live in Florida and these cruises are quite easy to do so we never had to take either cruise unless it met OUR criteria which includes the island being open as well as the YC area.  I feel good we cancelled them both we can always circle back.   Looking forward to hearing reports about OC as they are posted!  We also rebooked Seaside for later in 2020.

Like you, there are many FL cruisers who can/do make changes

You make a terrific point that the cruise should fit your needs, not the other way around AND cruises can be changed

 

I do wonder about MSC's cancellation policy--as we want to make a booking in YC for a sailing and are still comparing to a NCL/Haven sailing and a Regent sailing. trying to look at cost per day etc.

We are concerned that there may be a hefty deposit loss even though its more than a year out ---and is 21+ days... and the chart and information re cancellations and deposit seems a bit contradictory.

 

How helpful did you find MSC and getting your deposits back?

 

 

[Nymich]

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I hope that others who read your post will consider the important caveats therein. I don't know that the average Caribbean cruiser

1. Lives in Florida and thus has proximity to cruises as you do.

2. Has the ability to sub out a Polynesian cruise which likely involves more time and more $.

I guess what I'm saying is that I see a repeat of 2017, where multiple people on Cruise Critic claimed they were canceling their cruises and had formed a negative view of MSC based on initial reviews of the Seaside. I'm worried that if people don't drill down, they're going to say "oh we shouldn't go on MSC because they keep letting people down like @Nymich." I'm glad you were able to find a different cruise to go on, and I look forward to reporting back here after we do our cruise in December which is supposed to include OC.

That is why I tried to clearly outline why we delayed our B2B in YC.   Everyone has different situations and I even had people saying things like the island was not that important.  "Important" is defined by each of us individually.  I am not sure that you will see a repeat of 2017 as you say.  My deal is only my deal.  What I expect is only what I expect.  We are all in different situations.

[Nymich]

2 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Like you, there are many FL cruisers who can/do make changes

You make a terrific point that the cruise should fit your needs, not the other way around AND cruises can be changed

 

I do wonder about MSC's cancellation policy--as we want to make a booking in YC for a sailing and are still comparing to a NCL/Haven sailing and a Regent sailing. trying to look at cost per day etc.

We are concerned that there may be a hefty deposit loss even though its more than a year out ---and is 21+ days... and the chart and information re cancellations and deposit seems a bit contradictory.

 

How helpful did you find MSC and getting your deposits back?

 

 

MSC refunded in a few days they were awesome.  Now if I can get their status match people to reply back...………..

[Fogfog]

Just now, Nymich said:

MSC refunded in a few days they were awesome.  Now if I can get their status match people to reply back...………..

We submitted for our match last week and then I did send an email 

Have read it can take 2 weeks. We shall see

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, Nymich said:

That is why I tried to clearly outline why we delayed our B2B in YC.   Everyone has different situations and I even had people saying things like the island was not that important.  "Important" is defined by each of us individually.  I am not sure that you will see a repeat of 2017 as you say.  My deal is only my deal.  What I expect is only what I expect.  We are all in different situations.

Yep, and I agree with you. I follow MSC on Facebook and I can tell you that almost every day I see people posting things like "should we sail with MSC? Seems like a lot of people have had a bad experience with them." Or "We're thinking of canceling because it looks like Ocean Cay won't be open." It would appear (and this is just my opinion, take it for what it's worth) that people like that AREN'T investigating to see why some people have chosen to cancel, they're just saying "MSC gets a lot of negatives, what's the problem"? At the end of the day, if fewer people choose to sail, that's more room for me, haha.

[Fogfog]

Any updates or insight?

@Até

@cruiseguyinorl

[SteelCruisin]

Should people cancel because they may not go to O.C.? It is a private island for goodness sake, I can't believe that people would cancel their RCCL vacation because their ship was going to miss Coco Cay.... what am I missing...while it is exciting to have someplace new to stop, I can't see where not stopping at O.C. would ruin my families vacation.

Not trying to be confrontational, just keeping it real...

[Nymich]

Just now, SteelCruisin said:

Should people cancel because they may not go to O.C.? It is a private island for goodness sake, I can't believe that people would cancel their RCCL vacation because their ship was going to miss Coco Cay.... what am I missing...while it is exciting to have someplace new to stop, I can't see where not stopping at O.C. would ruin my families vacation.

Not trying to be confrontational, just keeping it real...

You are not missing anything it just isn't important to YOU.  Live and let Live.

[BermudaBound2014]

On 10/6/2019 at 8:26 AM, DCGuy64 said:

..... I’ve even read of one person on CC who cancelled 2 upcoming MSC cruises because the Yacht Club portion won’t be 100% complete. To each his own, I guess. 

 

I don't think the person DCguy64 is referencing in the above post is NYmich. I believe there is someone who cancelled in 2017, 2018 and the 2 upcoming cruises in 2020. 

 

NYmich, off topic, but did you book with Fred Olsen for Polynesian trip? That's a bucket list for me too. Have a marvelous time (I'm sure you will) :).

[BermudaBound2014]

3 hours ago, SteelCruisin said:

Should people cancel because they may not go to O.C.? It is a private island for goodness sake, I can't believe that people would cancel their RCCL vacation because their ship was going to miss Coco Cay.... what am I missing...while it is exciting to have someplace new to stop, I can't see where not stopping at O.C. would ruin my families vacation.

Not trying to be confrontational, just keeping it real...

 

Again, regarding the person DCGuy is referencing, I don't believe the reason they cancelled is strictly OC. It's more about the straw that broke the camels back. 

 

Over the years I've realized that everyone wants something different from a vacation and I try not to judge priorities. 

[Até]

I've cancelled a couple sailings that were supposed to go to Ocean Cay.  The first one in 2018 wasn't cancelled because OC wasn't finished but because I couldn't make the schedule fit some business obligations.  I did cancel the other partly because the Yacht Club area won't be ready.  I'll be visiting early as a non YC guest and also still have cruises booked in YC later when the area will be finished.  OC and the YC area of OC have some importance to my keeping the booking.

4 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Any updates or insight?

I have no inside information.  MSC seems to be keeping any information very tight, they will probably have some type of reveal event.

[Nashna]

 Everyone sails for different reasons. This is why there are so many different cruise options to choose from.  We enjoy sitting by the poor or on our balcony with a frosty drink watching the sea or reading a good novel.   I rarely visit the casino, play bingo, or go to the production shows.  I do enjoy listening to a great band or pianist and dancing the night away.  I must admit the YC has great appeal to us as we don’t like  to worry about getting a poolside lounger, love special service, and enjoy smaller dining venues.  We are looking forward to our January Divina sailing and relaxing on the beach in O C.

[DCGuy64]

 Everyone sails for different reasons. This is why there are so many different cruise options to choose from.  We enjoy sitting by the poor or on our balcony with a frosty drink watching the sea or reading a good novel.   I rarely visit the casino, play bingo, or go to the production shows.  I do enjoy listening to a great band or pianist and dancing the night away.  I must admit the YC has great appeal to us as we don’t like  to worry about getting a poolside lounger, love special service, and enjoy smaller dining venues.  We are looking forward to our January Divina sailing and relaxing on the beach in O C.

Sitting by the poor? Is that like sipping cocktails in the YC while looking down at the folks in steerage?
(I know you meant “pool” but the typo made me chuckle) [emoji4]


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