Just Off Armonia - experienced Ocean Cay yesterday

[cellfree]

Cruised Armonia January 13-20 (today). It was our second time on Armonia. Again no complaints. Entire staff excellent. Ship clean. Cabin lots of storage. Easiest way to shower is to direct water appropriately and shower without using curtain, doesn’t make too much of a mess and makes for a much better shower experience, it is a really small shower. Food In dining room very good. Buffet is smaller than on the larger more elaborate ships but it was good and adequate for us. We did miss Falmouth Jamaica due to high winds but docked at Costs Maya and Ocean Cay.  Apparently since it opened some of the other MSC ships have missed Ocean Cay due to the winter winds but to this point in time the Armonia has always made it, on the island one of the Officers gave us this piece of information and was very proud the Armonia has never had to abort. Ocean Cay - very nice, lots of lounge chairs, beaches beautiful, restrooms plentiful, showers on outside wall of every restroom, nicest bar in our opinion is the Lighthouse Bar - really nice and comfortable seating makes it a great place to sit and relax and read and enjoy your beverages for however long you want. 

[ODECCIT]

2 hours ago, cellfree said:

Cruised Armonia January 13-20 (today). It was our second time on Armonia. Again no complaints. Entire staff excellent. Ship clean. Cabin lots of storage. Easiest way to shower is to direct water appropriately and shower without using curtain, doesn’t make too much of a mess and makes for a much better shower experience, it is a really small shower. Food In dining room very good. Buffet is smaller than on the larger more elaborate ships but it was good and adequate for us. We did miss Falmouth Jamaica due to high winds but docked at Costs Maya and Ocean Cay.  Apparently since it opened some of the other MSC ships have missed Ocean Cay due to the winter winds but to this point in time the Armonia has always made it, on the island one of the Officers gave us this piece of information and was very proud the Armonia has never had to abort. Ocean Cay - very nice, lots of lounge chairs, beaches beautiful, restrooms plentiful, showers on outside wall of every restroom, nicest bar in our opinion is the Lighthouse Bar - really nice and comfortable seating makes it a great place to sit and relax and read and enjoy your beverages for however long you want. 

How many formal night on 7 day cruise and any theme nights?

[cellfree]

1)  Two formal nights - first one is the first Sea Day (Tuesday)

2)  Theme nights - White Party (quite a lot of cruisers were dressed in White, party on deck was fun), 60s70s (some cruisers had brought attire for that), Italian Night (not really promoted)

[vswan]

Was on the same sailing. Couple additional things about Ocean Cay. The attached island was not open. Think they must only open when more than one ship is docked. Not a big deal, still much area to choose from. Heard some guests complaining about the rocky beach on the outside. I took water shoes, but we were chose the inside lagoon area because water was much calmer. Sand there was great, didn't use my water shoes. I also pre-ordered the umbrella in the excursion area. Was glad I did since most trees were quite small yet. One complaint I had was the flies in the bars/food areas. Heard others talking that last week there were none, for us they were quite bad. They did have the parade and light show. We choose to listen and watch from our balcony rather than go out again. Music was still quite loud even from the balcony.

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for your reviews.

 

The island looks gorgeous.

[cellfree]

Oh yes how could I forget to mention the flies. They were quite awful. We actually ate back on the ship for lunch and the flies had invaded the pizza and burger grill areas of the ship. If they weren’t there last week we can hope it was a one week thing! We enjoyed the beach just beyond the Spa Area which seemed to be quieter with fewer people, a little longer walk, but there is transportation offered. I was under the impression the part of Ocean Cay, the other island, that was not open to us was the part that is set aside for Yacht Club guests. 

[Anita Latte]

Agree with the flies in the buffet area. Was there on Thursday, Jan 16...we were in the spa area. We walked to the closest food truck for food but later decided to walk over to the main buffet area to check it out. Was very happy to have eaten from the food truck, even without the extra fixings for the hot dogs....or a fork for the pasta salad! LOL. The food truck food was fresh and served directly to each customer so no fly accumulation. 

[SaturnMom]

Can you tell me about the water temperature? I went to Bahamas last April and the water was a bit too cold for me to swim. DH didn't want to go in the ocean at all.  We are going to Ocean Cay in 3 weeks, and I am wondering should I pre-order the floating mat and stand up paddle board. And is there any locker for people to use  at Ocean Cay? TIA

[EMc&DrS]

11 hours ago, vswan said:

Was on the same sailing. Couple additional things about Ocean Cay. The attached island was not open. Think they must only open when more than one ship is docked. Not a big deal, still much area to choose from. Heard some guests complaining about the rocky beach on the outside. I took water shoes, but we were chose the inside lagoon area because water was much calmer. Sand there was great, didn't use my water shoes. I also pre-ordered the umbrella in the excursion area. Was glad I did since most trees were quite small yet. One complaint I had was the flies in the bars/food areas. Heard others talking that last week there were none, for us they were quite bad. They did have the parade and light show. We choose to listen and watch from our balcony rather than go out again. Music was still quite loud even from the balcony.

What time is the light show?

[vswan]

Water was warm enough to swim, but it was probably different at the different swim areas. We were inside at the lagoon area. Parade started at 8 or so and lightshow was going on at 9 when I looked and seemed to keep going.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[cellfree]

Water temperature - we were at the beach just beyond Spa and although it was in a cove and protected it was too chilly for me but my husband did snorkel and others got in and once in said it was fine.

Lockers - I did not see any lockers on the Cay.  People left belongings on chairs when swimming, walking to bar, etc.

Light Show - Lighthouse Light Show is at 9:00 and 10:00.  We viewed it from Deck 6.

Edited January 21, 2020 by cellfree
Added an answer.

[Anita Latte]

I also was at the beach near the spa. The water temperature is the kind where you just have to get in...and it isn't easy to get in. But once you do, it's fine. It's not necessarily the kind where you have to keep moving constantly to not shiver, but if you stay too long in the water, the chill will set in. I went snorkeling off the snorkeling beach on the other side of the island from the spa area beach...spent about 90 minutes in the water and got out because the cool water was finally getting to be too much.

[Fishwife2016]

14 hours ago, vswan said:

Was on the same sailing. Couple additional things about Ocean Cay. The attached island was not open. Think they must only open when more than one ship is docked. Not a big deal, still much area to choose from. Heard some guests complaining about the rocky beach on the outside. I took water shoes, but we were chose the inside lagoon area because water was much calmer. Sand there was great, didn't use my water shoes. I also pre-ordered the umbrella in the excursion area. Was glad I did since most trees were quite small yet. One complaint I had was the flies in the bars/food areas. Heard others talking that last week there were none, for us they were quite bad. They did have the parade and light show. We choose to listen and watch from our balcony rather than go out again. Music was still quite loud even from the balcony.

Which side of the ship did she dock on?  You mentioned being able to watch from your balcony.  Thank you in advance.

[cellfree]

Even Cabin numbers were facing Ocean Cay. Our Cabin faced the Sea. We watched Light Show from outside on Deck 6.

[SaturnMom]

Vswan, Cellfree & Anita,

 

Thank you all for the information, I probably will have to buy a short sleeve wetsuit just in case. I love to swim,  but in warmer water.

 

Oh...did you see any organized activities on the beach area? Like games or beach volleyball? The ship will dock from 9am - 11pm, they better provide lot of activities for us to do. 😆Just kidding, I can lay down on the lounge chair all day without doing anything.

 

 

[cellfree]

There are two Beach Volleyball Courts - we did see one in action but not sure how it was organized. 

[vswan]

They do have a number of excursions you can purchase, but we just tried to walk all of the trails and really see the island. Then found the lawn chairs we wanted, put up our umbrella and enjoyed the day. I did go look at the shopping and found it lacking. Looked like a couple of over-priced MSC owned stores and not much else. But this also meant there was no one hounding you on the beach to buy things.

[Fishwife2016]

7 hours ago, cellfree said:

Even Cabin numbers were facing Ocean Cay. Our Cabin faced the Sea. We watched Light Show from outside on Deck 6.

Thank you!

[aprilF]

23 hours ago, vswan said:

Was on the same sailing. Couple additional things about Ocean Cay. The attached island was not open. Think they must only open when more than one ship is docked. Not a big deal, still much area to choose from.

 

That area has the YC area which the Armonia does not have.  There are areas over on the little island that arent YC but Im guessing it is much easier for MSC to just close the gate and post two security guards at the bridge rather than constantly shooing people from the YC area since they do not have the YC staff to help man that area beacuse the Armonia has no YC. 

 

I agree though, plenty of room for a full Armonia sailing without opening that area.  I'm just snoopy and wanted to look!  LOL

[Micheb5]

On 1/21/2020 at 11:30 AM, cellfree said:

Even Cabin numbers were facing Ocean Cay. Our Cabin faced the Sea. We watched Light Show from outside on Deck 6.

Hey, great info about Ocean Cay. Thanks for taking the time to write a review.

I guess the ship faces the lighthouse? No chance with an aft balcony of sitting there watching the lighthouse show I guess 😌

The price of the umbrella and big round raft are cheaper online I think?  $12 umbrella, $25 raft. Anyone know the cost on island?

Anita Latte - Do you remember what was offered in the food truck and how it was different from the buffet?

Thanks all!

[Anita Latte]

22 minutes ago, Micheb5 said:

No chance with an aft balcony of sitting there watching the lighthouse show I guess

 

 

We had an aft facing balcony on Divina and definitely no chance to see the lighthouse show. The bow faces toward the lighthouse.

 

23 minutes ago, Micheb5 said:

Anita Latte - Do you remember what was offered in the food truck and how it was different from the buffet?

Thanks all!

 

The food truck had hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fries, pasta salad (bowtie with veg, lots of garlic and a vinaigrette), and brownies. The ONLY condiments were mayo, ketchup, and yellow mustard. There were NO other toppings, so no pickle relish or pickles, no lettuce, no tomato, no onion, etc. Burgers were literally the meat patty (and cheese) and the bun. Hot dogs were literally the bun and the dog. The EXACT same food was offered at the buffet along with many other choices and toppings. The main difference was that the food truck food didn't sit out before being served...it wasn't quite made to order, but the holding area held way fewer items and so the food was very fresh and hot. The fries didn't sit at all really and were constantly being turned over and were excellent.

 

All the food on the island comes from the ship. It is delivered that morning...the crew will debark first and then the passengers will be cleared.

[Micheb5]

Thank you for the quick reply! Great info.  Have a great day!

[clbl99]

What are your thought on the age group for this ship? We are looking at May, 17 year old, 23 year old, 26 year old and two 59'ers. We usually do NCL or RCCL but this is something different on the port of calls. Just not sure how it would go with the younger ones.

[Holstebro]

Thank you so much for the reviews. I have some questions which I hope you can answer. I have no pre-paid beverage package for the cruise but have seen that a one-day beverage package is available for the island. Does anyone know which types of beverages are included in that package? Are the lounge chairs for free on the island or do you have to pay for them as with the umbrella? Is there any reef which you can swim to from the beach? Can you rent snorkel equipment once you go ashore or do you need to prebook it?