CocoCay a rare stop due to poor weather? San Juan always the alternative port?

[mikeerdas]

I've read in reviews of the Mariner of the Sea and elsewhere that CocoCay is often bypassed due to poor weather--with San Juan mentioned as port often substituted for CocoCay.

 

A recent CC review of the Mariner on an Eastern Caribbean March sailing mentions the first port being San Juan--presuming here that this was due to poor weather.

 

So my questions are:

 

1) How likely is it that I won't get to see CocoCay during hurricane season when the probability of bad weather is increased

 

2) Is missing CocoCay a big deal when it is only 1 of 3 port stops on a 7 day cruise? I prefer port days to days at sea.

 

3) Is San Juan nearly always the port substituted for CocoCay in bad weather? What are potential other substituted ports if CocoCay is passed?

 

I'm thinking I may need to fully research San Juan excursions if CocoCay is so susceptible to being missed by poor weather. Also because I've read San Juan can be a scary place wandering around town on your own--seems planning for an excursion would be better.

 

Which leads to a 4th question:

 

If the ships stops last minute at San Juan vs. CocoCay, what's the probability that'd I'd even be able to make it on an excursion?

 

Thanks.

 

Mike

[IWORK2CRUISE]

Of the 5 times we should have stopped at Coco Cay we made 4 stops. Once on Mariner it was very obvious on approach that the waves were crashing high and rough at the island. We diverted to Nassau which was fine. I may be mistaken but I don't think that San Juan becomes a substitute stop.

[reallyitsmema]

The Mariner has San Juan as a scheduled port at certain times of the year which I think is the case in the review you just read. Typically though, if the Mariner misses Coco Cay, she does head to San Juan. When we missed Coco Cay on our Sovereign cruise, we has an extra sea day since it was only a 3 night cruise and didn't have the extra time to head to San Juan.

[pmfan]

Both times we missed CoCo Cay we went to Nassau.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks folks. PMFan, were the cruises where you diverted to Nassau 7 nighters+ or less than 7 nighters?

 

Wondering how the choice is made between Nassau and San Juan if the weather's bad. Sounds like I'll need to investigate excursions on both islands?

 

PMFan, when you were diverted to Nassau, how did Royal handle it? Did they tell you that you could book alternate excursions?

 

I'm guessing they would make passengers well aware that they could, and should, book excursions in the new port--otherwise, it's a significant loss of revenue for Royal. Cruise line excursions, at least on NCL, were always priced a lot higher than the same excursions you could book yourself. So I figured it was a big profit-maker.

 

When I cruised in Hawaii (my first cruise), I did the research and found it was much cheaper, more flexible, and more pleasant to rent a car at each port and do my own excursions. Saved a bundle and had a blast.

[Oville]

Thanks folks. PMFan, were the cruises where you diverted to Nassau 7 nighters+ or less than 7 nighters?

 

Wondering how the choice is made between Nassau and San Juan if the weather's bad. Sounds like I'll need to investigate excursions on both islands?

 

PMFan, when you were diverted to Nassau, how did Royal handle it? Did they tell you that you could book alternate excursions?

 

I'm guessing they would make passengers well aware that they could, and should, book excursions in the new port--otherwise, it's a significant loss of revenue for Royal. Cruise line excursions, at least on NCL, were always priced a lot higher than the same excursions you could book yourself. So I figured it was a big profit-maker.

 

When I cruised in Hawaii (my first cruise), I did the research and found it was much cheaper, more flexible, and more pleasant to rent a car at each port and do my own excursions. Saved a bundle and had a blast.

 

San Juan has been a stop on the eastern Carib until May when the first port changes to Coco Cay.

[mikeerdas]

Why the seasonal change in ports?

[Ellebelle]

What are my chances of missing Cococay this June... cruising the 6th-9th onboard the Sovereign. Is this a time when seas are generally rough?? What months have been the main one's in which the island was missed??

[Pumbaamd]

On Majesty, our next port after Nassau was Coco Cay. High seas kept us away from CC. We went to Freeport instead.

Rick and Deirdra

[kc320]

ellebelle, I think "generally" Coco Cay is missed more in the winter & early spring than during the summer & fall months.. The only time we missed Coco Cay was on a Dec. cruise..we've cruised several times in the spring & fall and made it with no problem..but it's one of those ports you just never know... a strong storm could cause you to miss out..

[nodumblond]

On Majesty, our next port after Nassau was Coco Cay. High seas kept us away from CC. We went to Freeport instead.

Rick and Deirdra

 

First RCCL cruise (Jan 2004), missed CC -- because a previous day's storm had pretty well trashed the place. Instead, we docked in Nassau a day early and had almost two full days to roam the place.

 

Second RCCL cruise (Dec 2005), got there -- and had a FABULOUS time doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! :D

 

It's always something of a crapshoot -- I understand why folks are so disappointed when you miss CC, but it's worth gambling, because I think they do try to port somewhere early if you can't get there.

 

Either way, you're on a cruise, and NOT AT WORK! Can't beat that! :p

[MDSue]

I've read in reviews of the Mariner of the Sea and elsewhere that CocoCay is often bypassed due to poor weather--with San Juan mentioned as port often substituted for CocoCay

 

I'm thinking I may need to fully research San Juan excursions if CocoCay is so susceptible to being missed by poor weather. Also because I've read San Juan can be a scary place wandering around town on your own--seems planning for an excursion would be better.

 

If the ships stops last minute at San Juan vs. CocoCay, what's the probability that'd I'd even be able to make it on an excursion?

 

Thanks.

 

Mike

 

If you are lucky enough to stop in San Juan, you don't need to book and excursion. The ship will dock in Old San Juan and you will be within walking distance of a beautiful historical town, with much to see and do. The architecture is amazing, the streets are made from blue cobblestones that were used a ballasts on old spanish Galleons. We were just there last month for my first visit and I was amazed at how gorgeous the area is. I never felt unsafe walking anywhere. There are old forts, colorful buildings, quaint shops and restaurants. You will love it if you stick to the old part.

[concour]

We are batting 50% with Coco Cay. Twice missed in the late summer and in Dec and March were able to get to the island. The two times we missed Coco Cay we had a sea day.

 

I imagine it would depend which way one is going if San Juan is substituted. If you are heading north it would be out of the way to reverse and go back to San Juan. If heading south you can just continue the way you were heading.

 

Bill

[want2seaitall]

On my cruise last week, the cruise director said we were very lucky to have a nice enough day to go to Cococay. He said many ships haven't been able to go lately. He said it is a 50/50 shot.

 

It is a great place if you like white sand, crystal blue waters, listening to the sound of the wind rustling through palms, and COCO LOCOS!!!

 

One of my favorite stops. It is soooo relaxing.

[amybear912]

We missed Coco Cay on our Mariner Eastern cruise last year and hit San Juan instead... we were actually notified during embarkation that we wouldn't be making it and would be diverted to San Juan... there was a Sea Day before San Juan so we had plenty of time to book excursions if we had wanted to... we didn't...

 

The problem that we found was that we didn't get to San Juan until around 3pm (this seems to be pretty typical) and by then, anything we would have wanted to do we wouldn't have had the time...

 

Once we stopped in San Juan, it took forever to get through the huge crowd of people at the pier who were getting off not only our ship but the other four ships that were in port that day... With so many ships in port, Old San Juan was really crowded and consequently the stop just wasn't very enjoyable to us...

 

We sailed in February, so not much daylight was left once we arrived in San Juan...

 

We'd love to do San Juan properly, when we've planned for it but we were really counting on getting to Coco Cay as it is a wonderful beach day...

 

When my sister missed it while sailing on Sovereign for a 3 day Bahamas cruise, the simply made it a Sea Day and did not substitute a port nor did they extend their time in Nassau...

 

There are a lot of factors at play from distance the ship is traveling to how many ships will be in whatever port, etc.... that determine what will happen if you miss Coco Cay...

 

But if you are going to San Juan instead, rest assured, they will give you time to book excursions for that port... they can't afford to miss out on the revenue.