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Coco Cay = Extra Pay!


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Ok let me start out by saying that I understand the reason behind creating extra cash flow, I mean someone has to pay for it, but this is ridonkulous!  I'm happy to report that my October 7th sailing of this year on Mariner is now doing  2 stops at Coco Cay.  Sweet, I get twice the fun and excitement instead of a sea day (which is also truly enjoyable).  The problem lies with the moves that Royal did that is now causing me some heartache and discomfort!

My original itinerary had me doing the Escape Room on day 2 (original sea day) at 10:00am and the Up, Up and Away Balloon on day 4 at 9:30am.  When I saw word that an extra day at Coco Cay had been added, I immediately grabbed my IPad and pulled up my calendar in cruise planner.  Now it hurt to see what they had done.  I was now scheduled for the Up, Up and Away ride at 9:30am on day 2 and and the Escape Room for 10:00am on the same day.  There is no way that that feat would be practical unless the balloon ride was dropping me off on deck 15 so I could make the escape room!

I called Royal at 10:00pm central time and spoke to a representative, who was nice, respectful and very helpful, although not truly forthcoming with information.  After a short stint on hold, here was his recommendation.  I could cancel and move one of my attractions to Thursday.  What a brilliant idea!  The process he explained was I could cancel and rebook.  Okay, I'm following that thought, but not truly thinking it through.  I wanted to keep my balloon ride on Thursday, so that's what I did.  Cancel Tuesdays balloon ride and re-book it on Thursday.  Ok, I'll do that.  He explained that I would receive a full refund within 5-7 days and all would be well.  WOW, what a great experience, nothing like I envisioned from stories I had heard.  I was expecting to be told "Suck it up buttercup, you're on a cruise, quit whining".  I expected to be on hold so long that my Santa beard would grow another inch.  Heck I even brought snacks and was hunkered down for the duration!  But no, it was a pretty good experience.  I was extremely happy with the call and hung up. UNTIL I CHECKED THE CRUISE PLANNER...

 

The price had now gone from $30.99 that I was getting refund for, to $84.99 for the same dang ride, at the same dang time of my original and the same dang day! ALL THOSE SNACKS I HAD BROUGHT THINKING I WOULD BE ON THE PHONE FOR DAYS, WERE IMMEDIATELY CONSUMED IN A FIT OF ANGER.  Not a happy cruiser!

 

I get it and it will all be ok, but come on Royal, all you had to do was push a button and keep my original info and not caused me all this grief!  I'm truly "LOYAL TO ROYAL"  and will remain that way.  I don't have a rich portfolio of cruises to brag about, heck this will only be my 3rd cruise, although I already have 2 more booked for next year, and I'll keep cruising with the best fleet in the world.  So with that being said, I'll pay the piper, enjoy my cruise and be ready for my October 7th Coco Cay=Extra Pay cruise!

On a different note, Royal did save me some money, I no longer need my dietician to tell me I'm an over eater!  Heck I'm a big fella, but I don't have an eating disorder, I have anger issues and I overeat when I get mad!  Just kidding guys.  Taking a bad situation and turning into something fun.  Hopefully you can find yourself laughing over this as I am!

 

Happy Cruising!
Santa Scott

santa-on-vacation-clipart-18.png

Edited by BIBPhotography
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Okay, now I feel really bad!  I wrote the "novel" above after viewing the re-booking price.  Just went to the cruise planner and was able to re-book my Up, Up and Away ride for the original price, original time and original day!  I'm a happy cruiser and all those snacks were devoured for no reason at all!

 

Happy Cruising!

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1 hour ago, BIBPhotography said:

I'm truly "LOYAL TO ROYAL"  and will remain that way.  I don't have a rich portfolio of cruises to brag about, heck this will only be my 3rd cruise, although I already have 2 more booked for next year, and I'll keep cruising with the best fleet in the world.  So with that being said, I'll pay the piper, enjoy my cruise and be ready for my October 7th Coco Cay=Extra Pay cruise!

 

Careful with that, that's why they try to rip people off.  They are hardly the best of the best; just the "glossiest" of the mainstream lines

Edited by LMaxwell
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I just checked my October 28 sailing on Mariner and our sea day (day 4) has also been turned into a second stop in CocoCay. I'm bummed! I was looking forward to staying on the ship and chilling out for a day with nothing but sea at all sides. I didn't get the email from Royal, but my escape room was booked on embarkation day. 

The cruise planner also isn't allowing me to book anything for the new day at CocoCay, either. We have a Chill Island cabana booked for the first stop, maybe we'll just have to schlep it and grab a lounger on the second stop.

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15 minutes ago, booplesnoople said:

I just checked my October 28 sailing on Mariner and our sea day (day 4) has also been turned into a second stop in CocoCay. I'm bummed! I was looking forward to staying on the ship and chilling out for a day with nothing but sea at all sides. I didn't get the email from Royal, but my escape room was booked on embarkation day. 

The cruise planner also isn't allowing me to book anything for the new day at CocoCay, either. We have a Chill Island cabana booked for the first stop, maybe we'll just have to schlep it and grab a lounger on the second stop.

Well I was wrong, looks like I can book things for the new CocoCay day. You just have to view all shore excursions instead of by port. Silly me!

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I'm on the November 25 sailing for 4 nights on Mariner. So far, it doesn't say that we are in CocoCay for 2 days. However, they did reverse the days. Originally we had CocoCay, Nassau, Sea Day. Now it shows Nassau on the first day, CocoCay on the second and a sea day on the last day. Is it only certain sailings that no longer have the sea day? 

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Just now, Biker19 said:

Have you seen cabana prices?

Oh Yes! However, It just strikes me as being a strange itinerary change. I for one don't mind the private islands. I don't book cabana's, I barely use the free lounge chair and  I have no interest in the water park. I think for most part that it's a good change since they are just losing a sea day. If it was a change in a port of call it might be a different issue.

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3 minutes ago, AmandaKaye79 said:

I'm on the November 25 sailing for 4 nights on Mariner. So far, it doesn't say that we are in CocoCay for 2 days. However, they did reverse the days. Originally we had CocoCay, Nassau, Sea Day. Now it shows Nassau on the first day, CocoCay on the second and a sea day on the last day. Is it only certain sailings that no longer have the sea day? 

It seems like the October 4-night sailings have been the most affected. My guess is we're the guinea pigs.

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1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

So when they swap out a sea day for an extra CocoCay visit, are they giving everyone already booked the port fees for the extra CocoCay gratis?

Royal owns CocoCay, do they pay port fees to themselves? 

(Not sarcasm, I am genuinely asking here.) Or who would they pay port fees to?

Edited by booplesnoople
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1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

So when they swap out a sea day for an extra CocoCay visit, are they giving everyone already booked the port fees for the extra CocoCay gratis?

They may have worked out a special 2 for 1 deal with Bahamas. One could check the port fee before and after the itinerary change to see if they went up.

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Maybe they don't pay any fees for CocoCay.

 

I just looked at the port taxes and fees for the 3-day (Nassau and 1 CocoCay $82.30),  4-day (Nassau and 1 CocoCay $82.04), and 4-day (Nassau and 2 CocoCay $82.46) sailings and the difference varies for by only a few cents.  

Edited by AshleyDillo
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 Our January, 2020 four night mariner cruise became an itinerary of Coco Cay, Nassau, Coco Cay. 

 

 Others that have this new itinerary have talked about going to the island the first time, and then using the second stop as a sea day. The only problem with that is that most everything on the ship will be closed, including the main dining room,  The shops as well as the casino.   

 

 We’ve been to the NEW Coco Cay three times. Twice, we didn’t have to spend any extra money, we just enjoyed the usual items we have in the past such as the lunch, and the chairs by the ocean. In fact, it’s saved us money as in the past we used to have to rent umbrellas.  One visit we took a ride in the  up up and away balloon. It was lots of fun, but I can’t imagine we’ll need to do it more than once. 

 

 I will look forward to the new itinerary, at least for the first time, and see how it works out   I am suspecting that there will be two ships at Coco Cay at least one of those  two stops. 

 

M

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