Skipping CoCo Cay

[ashmo8]

There have been several port cancellations to Coco Cay lately. If you have been cancelled, have you diverted to another port or had a sea day added on? For us, our Coco Cay day is our last day, so I am not sure we would be able to divert if we were cancelled. Makes me wish we were visiting Labadee instead (which I love so much more than Coco Cay)...

[salsagrl]

We were on Harmony just after Christmas and the determination was made a few days before our scheduled CocoCay stop that we would be skipping it.  We got Labadee added on as a replacement, which I was thrilled about (I may have been in the minority).

Coco Cay was to be our final day as well - we ended up stopping at Labadee the day before, giving us the final day at sea.  That worked way better for me anyway 🙂

I think it depends how far before your scheduled stop they make the call to skip it.

[Drock20J]

My in-laws were on the Adventure last week when their stop at Coco Cay was canceled. They were only on the last day of the cruise.

 

They went to Labadee instead and went back into port (Miami) on time.

[blueridgemama]

For a winter cruise I would choose Labadee over CocoCay because of the colder water at CocoCay and also the possibility of cancellation. For a spring,  summer cruise I would choose CocoCay. There seems to have been a lot of very disappointed cruisers when their Perfect Day has been cancelled.

[ashmo8]

This is great. We are on the HOS as well. I would really love a detour over to Labadee....I loved the old Coco Cay, not sure that I am in love with the over commercialization of it now. Just hoping that we wouldn't just get another sea day instead of a detour.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, ashmo8 said:

This is great. We are on the HOS as well. I would really love a detour over to Labadee....I loved the old Coco Cay, not sure that I am in love with the over commercialization of it now. Just hoping that we wouldn't just get another sea day instead of a detour.

It depends on when they realize that they have to skip the port.  In many cases they don't know until a few hours before so there is no time to make an itinerary change.  It also depends on what ships are already scheduled in at other ports.

[BND]

Our last trip that we were supposed to go there was while it was still a tender port.  Our itinerary included Nassau the following day so we went straight to Nassau and spent the night.  We were able to do that because there was port availability.  Other times, we just had another sea day.  We've only made it to CC 1 out of 4 attempts.  Supposed to go twice in Nov (b2b on Harmony) so we'll see what happens.

Edited January 17, 2020 by BND

[Merion_Mom]

31 minutes ago, ashmo8 said:

This is great. We are on the HOS as well. I would really love a detour over to Labadee....I loved the old Coco Cay, not sure that I am in love with the over commercialization of it now. Just hoping that we wouldn't just get another sea day instead of a detour.

 

So you haven't been there yet?

 

I was a skeptic pre-visit, too.  But I am VERY impressed with the renovations and think that it is now a wonderful port of call.  I really like the facilities, the new food offerings, and the many different things to do.

[ashmo8]

I haven't. But I am more of a native beach kind of gal (St. John is more my fancy rather than St. Thomas). Coco Cay was perfect before (no pun intended) IMO. We aren't a waterpark or pool kind of family--just give us sand and some snorkel gear and we're happy(ok maybe a drink too)!

[rbschultz]

40 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

So you haven't been there yet?

 

I was a skeptic pre-visit, too.  But I am VERY impressed with the renovations and think that it is now a wonderful port of call.  I really like the facilities, the new food offerings, and the many different things to do.

 

Agreed. Don't need to spend money to have a nice, relaxing day.

[BTHodgeman]

1 hour ago, ashmo8 said:

I haven't. But I am more of a native beach kind of gal (St. John is more my fancy rather than St. Thomas). Coco Cay was perfect before (no pun intended) IMO. We aren't a waterpark or pool kind of family--just give us sand and some snorkel gear and we're happy(ok maybe a drink too)!

The nice thing is they still have that. I like a nice beach or a nice pool. I was really impressed with the Oasis Lagoon pool area. Friends did the water park, and we were able to do pool and beach. It was nice to have some variety and the ability for everyone to do what they wanted to do. I spent $0 -- excluding cocktails. 🤣

Edited January 17, 2020 by BTHodgeman

[mskaufman]

We were there just before Christmas.  There were supposed to be two ships there and the other (larger) ship was cancelled. Since the weather was kind of wet we pretty much had the place to ourselves (until lunchtime that is when the skies opened up).

[Lady Hudson]

2 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

So you haven't been there yet?

 

I was a skeptic pre-visit, too.  But I am VERY impressed with the renovations and think that it is now a wonderful port of call.  I really like the facilities, the new food offerings, and the many different things to do.

I am going to second this.  Was at Coco Cay last week and was very impressed.  Food stations great and the whole area didn’t feel overly commercialized or crowded.  My opinion — Royal did a good job with Coco.

[luckyinpa]

why in the world would they ever cancel the perfect day? on christmas day our captain anchored outside GSC and said too rough sea to tender and if you see the royal ship over there and you are jealous, its because they have a dock and dont have to miss their port. 

 

so is that not true now? why would they miss their own port like that?

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

why in the world would they ever cancel the perfect day? on christmas day our captain anchored outside GSC and said too rough sea to tender and if you see the royal ship over there and you are jealous, its because they have a dock and dont have to miss their port. 

 

so is that not true now? why would they miss their own port like that?

 

 

During high winds / rough seas, it's been reported that water flows over the dock making it unsafe to dock / debark.

[blueridgemama]

3 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

why in the world would they ever cancel the perfect day? on christmas day our captain anchored outside GSC and said too rough sea to tender and if you see the royal ship over there and you are jealous, its because they have a dock and dont have to miss their port. 

 

so is that not true now? why would they miss their own port like that?

 

They can't dock if the water is too rough or its too windy. The ship could be slammed into the dock.

[lovescats5]

Just look at what happened to Carnival when it was too windy to dock in Cozumel.  I cannot imagine Royal taking a chance with one of their ships just to spend some time at Coco Cay.  We were there just after they got the dock finished so we did not have to tender and then 6 months later when the water park side was done.  It looks really fun but the granddaughter just likes to swim in the ocean, not play on slides or things. 

[CP3o]

7 hours ago, mskaufman said:

We were there just before Christmas.  There were supposed to be two ships there and the other (larger) ship was cancelled. Since the weather was kind of wet we pretty much had the place to ourselves (until lunchtime that is when the skies opened up).

That's interesting.  I would have guessed they'd cancel all ships if weather was bad, partly b/c of waves coming up over the dock.  (Would the shape of the dock and pathways make Coco Cay much more likely to be canceled than Labadee in similar conditions?)

 

So if sail to Coco Cay on Majesty size ship, more likely to make it than Oasis class?

 

I think shape of ship and surface area exposed to wind factors in.  We couldn't dock in Nassau on the Bliss once on a windy sunny day but seemed like all the other ships made it.  

[Biker19]

11 hours ago, CP3o said:

So if sail to Coco Cay on Majesty size ship, more likely to make it than Oasis class?

Not necessarily - while bigger, O class has pretty good maneuverability with her pods and thrusters.

[Clarea]

14 hours ago, CP3o said:

 ....

 

So if sail to Coco Cay on Majesty size ship, more likely to make it than Oasis class? ...

 

I would say less likely.

 

We were on Monarch on a windy day trying to dock at Nassau.  The wind was so strong that the needed two tugs to push Monarch into the pier.  Not sure, but I don't think there are tugs at Coco Cay.

[KALCJ1]

On 1/17/2020 at 8:43 AM, Merion_Mom said:

 

So you haven't been there yet?

 

I was a skeptic pre-visit, too.  But I am VERY impressed with the renovations and think that it is now a wonderful port of call.  I really like the facilities, the new food offerings, and the many different things to do.

Were you there this week?  If so, was the water super cold?  Just curious...as that is my hesitation.   We will be on the HOS for a B2B in February and we stop there both weeks.

[brillohead]

On 1/17/2020 at 9:50 AM, ashmo8 said:

I haven't. But I am more of a native beach kind of gal (St. John is more my fancy rather than St. Thomas). Coco Cay was perfect before (no pun intended) IMO. We aren't a waterpark or pool kind of family--just give us sand and some snorkel gear and we're happy(ok maybe a drink too)!

You can still do all of those things.... don't knock it until you've tried it.  

There are now a bazillion lounge chairs and shade umbrellas for free on all the beach areas, improved buffet areas with hand-washing stations, and a tram to take you to the back side of the island if you want.  

You don't need to do the water park, and you don't need to do the pool -- just go to the beach, play in the water, relax on a lounger, and enjoy your totally free beach day.

[CP3o]

On 1/17/2020 at 12:09 PM, mskaufman said:

We were there just before Christmas.  There were supposed to be two ships there and the other (larger) ship was cancelled. Since the weather was kind of wet we pretty much had the place to ourselves (until lunchtime that is when the skies opened up).

Out of curiosity, which ship made it and which larger ship cancelled?  I'd have thought big ships and small equally likely to make it since Coco Cay, generally has the same arrival times, and RCCL makes the call about docking or not or has standards both captains follow in those regards.

 

Maybe it's harder to get a second ship there regardless of size if weather is bad?  Or captains have some say over trying to go to Coco Cay on a rainy day or sailing a bit away from rain b/c guests might prefer drier at sea day.  

[Ourusualbeach]

38 minutes ago, CP3o said:

Out of curiosity, which ship made it and which larger ship cancelled?  I'd have thought big ships and small equally likely to make it since Coco Cay, generally has the same arrival times, and RCCL makes the call about docking or not or has standards both captains follow in those regards.

While safety standards would be the same the ships are very different in the overall power that they have as well as differences in their bow thrusters as well as if the ship has azipods or not.  

 

Also there are 2 sides of the dock and docking at one side could be a lot more challenging.

 

Last March we had just finished docking (either Roatan or Costa Maya) along with 2 other ships and there was still one spot open and another ship tried to dock but after a couple of attempts called it off. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[Diver2014]

We were at Coco Cay yesterday on Harmony.  The wind was blowing about 30 mph so nothing was operating - no zip line, no balloon, no tall water slides, no jet skis, no kayaks, no day cabanas (all tied down and loungers piled on top).  Basically nothing was open but the bars and snack shacks.  May as well have spent the day at sea but it was a chance to get off the ship after being at sea the day before.  I hope folks got refunds for all their missed attractions.  We just walked around the entire perimeter of Coco Cay, sat in the sun for a few moments before we were wind blown back to the ship by noon.  Oh well.  At least we can say we've been there.