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Ocean Cay~ The Final Countdown


BermudaBound2014
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Does anyone know if the drink packages will work on the island, as they do on Royal's private stops?  Just curious because they offer an "Ocean Cay" alcohol package as well.  Don't know if this is needed on top of the premium package or what the deal is.  Sorry, MSC newbie here!  Thanks in Advance!  Heading there in Jan.

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57 minutes ago, Powersboyee2 said:

Does anyone know if the drink packages will work on the island, as they do on Royal's private stops?  Just curious because they offer an "Ocean Cay" alcohol package as well.  Don't know if this is needed on top of the premium package or what the deal is.  Sorry, MSC newbie here!  Thanks in Advance!  Heading there in Jan.

I understand that the ship's drink package will be in effect on Ocean Cay.  They do offer a one day only drink pass for folks who do not have the regular drink package.

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4 hours ago, Nashna said:

I understand that the ship's drink package will be in effect on Ocean Cay.  They do offer a one day only drink pass for folks who do not have the regular drink package.

 

The one day alcohol pass is available on OC for $30 on the sailing I just looked at. If that included frozen drinks it would be an exceptional deal. I don't believe that anyone knows what it includes at this time. 

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On 10/22/2019 at 3:49 PM, LadyVol1 said:

I'll be there on Dec. 5 pushing my 91-year old mother in her manual wheelchair.  Ocean Cay is supposed to be ADA friendly.  I would love to find that out before actually trying to get her off the ship so if you want to report back, please do.  Thanks in advance if you do!

We're in the Yacht Club so I guess we are supposed to have a separate place at Ocean Cay.  By the way, normal wheelchairs don't work in sand and I'm not going to rent a sand wheelchair for her to use for one day so they better have a lot of smooth sidewalks!

Janet

 

Ladyvol: It's hard to tell, but it looks like they may have connected the cement walkway from the pier to the lighthouse this week. If so, that might be a nice stroll with mom. The lighthouse area will certainly be ready next week.

 

Image may contain: ocean, sky, cloud, outdoor, nature and water

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Lots of pictures rolling in on various sites of Ocean Cay taken in the last few days. I'm not copying all them here unless someone says they aren't on social media and would like to see them.

 

I am curious what's on the beach here? There are yellow ball looking things at the top of each rectangle. Any ideas??

 

Image may contain: ocean, sky, outdoor, water and nature

Edited by BermudaBound2014
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15 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

The one day alcohol pass is available on OC for $30 on the sailing I just looked at. If that included frozen drinks it would be an exceptional deal. I don't believe that anyone knows what it includes at this time. 

 

Where do you see a single day drink pass?  

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22 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Lots of pictures rolling in on various sites of Ocean Cay taken in the last few days. I'm not copying all them here unless someone says they aren't on social media and would like to see them.

 

I am curious what's on the beach here? There are yellow ball looking things at the top of each rectangle. Any ideas??

 

Image may contain: ocean, sky, outdoor, water and nature

 

I bet they are part of the design of an artificial reef to give some structure for underwater life to grow on 

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31 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Ladyvol: It's hard to tell, but it looks like they may have connected the cement walkway from the pier to the lighthouse this week. If so, that might be a nice stroll with mom. 

 

Great idea!  Thanks.

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1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Where do you see a single day drink pass?  

 

 

 

This is the package that is described on our January cruise offerings at $30.00 for the day. 

 

OCEAN CAY ALCOHOL DRINK PACKAGE
Enjoy your alcohol drink package!
Includes:
  • spirits (premium brands excluded)
  • cocktails
  • wines by the glass
  • beer
  • sodas
  • fruit juice
  • mineral water
  • energy drinks

TERMS & CONDITIONS: This package can be sold to ADULTS over 21 years who are part of the group/family with an ADULT package. ALL ADULTS occupying same cabin and all family travelling in different cabins must purchase same kind of package (all children traveling in the cabin/group must purchase the children's drink package).The package is for personal use only and valid for one order at a time. The ID card is non-transferrable.

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I understand people are trying to be positive about what to expect on early visits to Ocean Cay starting next month. The fact that it appears MSC is scrambling to get major work completed so close to opening, and after this project has been delayed years is disappointing. I honestly feel that they should have had enough time to open OC at 100% on day one and somewhere along the way they dropped the ball. It's not like MSC doesn't have the money to make sure things get done on time. I guess we'll all have to wait and see for ourselves in the coming weeks.

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It must have been a logistical nightmare to get the island cleaned up properly, import all the building materials and transport workers to and from the site.  I'm sure that they could have accomplished the construction much faster if they ignored environmental concerns.   

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42 minutes ago, Nashna said:

 

 

 

This is the package that is described on our January cruise offerings at $30.00 for the day. 

 

OCEAN CAY ALCOHOL DRINK PACKAGE
Enjoy your alcohol drink package!
Includes:
  • spirits (premium brands excluded)
  • cocktails
  • wines by the glass
  • beer
  • sodas
  • fruit juice
  • mineral water
  • energy drinks

TERMS & CONDITIONS: This package can be sold to ADULTS over 21 years who are part of the group/family with an ADULT package. ALL ADULTS occupying same cabin and all family travelling in different cabins must purchase same kind of package (all children traveling in the cabin/group must purchase the children's drink package).The package is for personal use only and valid for one order at a time. The ID card is non-transferrable.

 

Interesting; I am on a December cruise and that offering is not displayed.   I see I would also have to purchase a childs drink package for my son in order to buy this.  I'm not sure I'd drink enough in a day to justify even $30.  A number of MSC's cocktails are pretty reasonably priced (currently) so having 2 or 3 at the island would still be less money.  

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2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Lots of pictures rolling in on various sites of Ocean Cay taken in the last few days. I'm not copying all them here unless someone says they aren't on social media and would like to see them.

 

I am curious what's on the beach here? There are yellow ball looking things at the top of each rectangle. Any ideas??

 

Image may contain: ocean, sky, outdoor, water and nature

Could you tell us which social media sites to find more pictures of the island. Thanks. 

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27 minutes ago, Cruisergal1208 said:

Could you tell us which social media sites to find more pictures of the island. Thanks. 

MSC Ocean Cay Forum is a private group.  However, you can join if you are on FB.  They seem to have some insider knowledge.

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26 minutes ago, Cruisergal1208 said:

Could you tell us which social media sites to find more pictures of the island. Thanks. 

 

Numerous sites on Facebook, instagram, and twitter have the most, but if you dig they are starting to surface all over. Here are some more from today's facebook postings (I'm not posting the lighthouse photos as there are a TON... it seems the lighthouse is the only thing near completion so therefore they are getting the most exposure).

 

image.png.f5878d29c18eefa44bfb084964431ac7.png

 

image.png.53f43036ef0c6e2bdd160cf8ea1d80bd.png

 

image.png.e3cb9b6ccc1d61c0f6808f506140745e.png

 

 

image.png.66bf5e4c9dd116db5893b091d05f3340.png

 

image.png.d6c66766764c31fb76192818a5587357.png

 

 

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1 hour ago, NameThatFunnel said:

I understand people are trying to be positive about what to expect on early visits to Ocean Cay starting next month. The fact that it appears MSC is scrambling to get major work completed so close to opening, and after this project has been delayed years is disappointing. I honestly feel that they should have had enough time to open OC at 100% on day one and somewhere along the way they dropped the ball. It's not like MSC doesn't have the money to make sure things get done on time. I guess we'll all have to wait and see for ourselves in the coming weeks.

 

When do you sail? I'm hoping that some members will take 'real' photos and not just the things that look nice. The facebook pages appear to be run by travel agents so the information coming out on social media is not reliable IMO. Most of those photos are taken at angles that are hiding all heavy equipment still in operation. You need to blow up the photos and look closely to see some of the things that appear to be 'hidden' initially.

 

We have several members of CC visiting the first week and I'm believe they will try to show Ocean Cay factually.  And as the weeks progress, it will be very interesting to see how the island changes, so I'm super hopeful we can get week by week shots too! 

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9 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

When do you sail? I'm hoping that some members will take 'real' photos and not just the things that look nice. The facebook pages appear to be run by travel agents so the information coming out on social media is not reliable IMO. Most of those photos are taken at angles that are hiding all heavy equipment still in operation. You need to blow up the photos and look closely to see some of the things that appear to be 'hidden' initially.

 

We have several members of CC visiting the first week and I'm believe they will try to show Ocean Cay factually.  And as the weeks progress, it will be very interesting to see how the island changes, so I'm super hopeful we can get week by week shots too! 

I'll be stopping at OC on the 2nd and 3rd Meraviglia sailings from Miami. I agree, the photos that are being posted are not showing the whole picture.

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Just now, NameThatFunnel said:

I'll be stopping at OC on the 2nd and 3rd Meraviglia sailings from Miami. I agree, the photos that are being posted are not showing the whole picture.

 

You are my new hero! This is wonderful. You can take photos two weeks in a row to show the progression. Ideal. PLEASE come back and share with us the full picture. 

 

Assuming Mera will stop on Nov 9th (and I believe it will), you will have MSC loyalists stating that  Ocean Cay opened on time and they never expected the island to be complete, and it's good enough for them, and any day at a beach, blah blah blah. Others will say that since they didn't open fully functional, they did not meet their obligation to guests and some will even demand refunds. 

 

My personal opinion lies somewhere in between. If they open on Nov 9th and over 75% of the services advertised are in place, I will call that a successful opening~Bravo to MSC. If 50% of the advertised amenities are up and running I'd call it a partial success and question deceptive advertising. Anything less than 50% is absolutely deceptive IMO because MSC continues to advertise a fully functional island at opening.

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One of our favorite excursions ever was to a tiny island off of Belize.  It had a few trees, a small building where they sold beer, and not much more---but it was surrounded by incredible white sand and blue/greenwater.  One of our favorite cruise days--and there was nothing there.  If the beach at Ocean Cay is as beautiful as it looks, won't matter to us what is finished and what is not!

 

image.png.0f8c4799227200edd279d9bec1c03aa9.png

 

image.png.3cb438386c5e96c4856a117d7e13a237.png

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With the newest pictures, MSC definitely seems to have made a lot of strides in comparison to the last set of photos we saw. Yes, there's still WAY more to go but they're definitely racing to get something presentable and have the side facing the ship and the East side up to the back of the island completed. It seems like the middle and left side is where the problem is at with completion. I don't believe the buffet will be ready in time for the first cruise's arrival. It seems like the villas are ready now though, just not the YC area yet.

 

Time will tell. I'm on the opening voyage (repositioning cruise). I'll be sure to report back my findings.

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