Tendering Question

[90poundpoodles]

We will be tendering at CoCo Kay next week and was wondering if they base the decision to stop or not on the wind? or rain chance? Right now they are predecting 15mph winds and a 40-50% change of showers.

I have never been to CCK and would really like to stop there! Please advise.:(

[Janet524]

Rain certainly wouldn't deter them from tendering, however wind and sea conditions certainly could. We tendered off of Liberty to/from Labadee in rain in November.

[90poundpoodles]

Thanks I feel a little better now!

[DrD]

Rain certainly wouldn't deter them from tendering, however wind and sea conditions certainly could. We tendered off of Liberty to/from Labadee in rain in November.

 

I thought they used the dock in Labadee. We did last year.

[CntPAcruiser]

On our Freedom of the Seas cruise some years ago we had to skip Coco Cay because of rough seas. This seems to be reported a fair amount. I hope your sailing gets to stop there--good luck!

[phish tales]

On our Freedom of the Seas cruise some years ago we had to skip Coco Cay because of rough seas. This seems to be reported a fair amount. I hope your sailing gets to stop there--good luck!

 

 

a lot of us that cruise very often, call Coco Cay "Coco Maybe". due to the fact that maybe we will stop there. believe me; no great loss if they just go on by. :)

[Trekker954]

I thought they used the dock in Labadee. We did last year.

 

 

Royal docks at Labadee, you are correct. Actually they can dock two ships which they often do.

[OCruisers]

We enjoyed Coco Cay so hope you're able to go. :)

 

As others have said, it'll totally depend on the sea conditions the day your arrive.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[slk230red]

We enjoyed Coco Cay so hope you're able to go. :)

 

As others have said, it'll totally depend on the sea conditions the day your arrive.

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

We were there a couple of weeks ago on the Azamara Quest, very windy, but we were able to tender and do a wave runner tour. Oh yeah, the free drinks on the beach were great too!

[Scotty G]

We were there a couple of weeks ago on the Azamara Quest, very windy, but we were able to tender and do a wave runner tour. Oh yeah, the free drinks on the beach were great too!

 

RCI customers do not get free drinks on the beach or elsewhere on Coco Cay other than the included water, lemonade and iced tea. Nice touch with Azamara!!!

 

It's the sea state/conditions at the Cut where the tenders come and go from the docks that primarily determines whether they can be safely used. The RCI island manager is the one who makes that decision.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Scotty G
clarify!!!

[KBD1516]

I have heard that Coco cay is the most missed port in the world. I think because the inlet where the tenders park is small and gets to sloshing pretty easily. I love it there and I hate to miss it but it does happen often and no one can predict it.

 

Drinks like tea and lemonade are free with the free lunch.

[slk230red]

RCI customers do not get free drinks on the beach or elsewhere on Coco Cay other than the included water. Nice touch with Azamara!!!

 

It's the sea state/conditions at the Cut where the tenders come and go from the docks that primarily determines whether they can be safely used. The RCI island manager is the one who makes that decision.

 

Having a cold beer, glass of wine, pina colada, etc. when you want was a nice treat. Yes, the Azamara crew did a great job setting up the food and beverage stations on Coco Cay and Labadee. We were in Labadee in October and twice in December. What a difference when there are only 500 plus guests at the beach. Compared to Freedom and Allure, there were empty chaises everywhere.

Edited January 2, 2014 by slk230red

[mabkcruisers]

We have been on 2 cruises with Coco Cay as a stop (both were late March/early April). The first time we missed it because of wind. We were told they could get us there, but there would be complications getting back to the ship at the end of the day. Apparently cruisers in the past were stuck there overnight. Second cruise we were able to go, so we are 50/50 with Coco Cay. The first time it seemed no big deal, and the staff made the most out of a day at sea. When we were finally able to get there, we realized what a great opportunity we had missed! Hope you get to go!

[Paulette3028]

Rain certainly wouldn't deter them from tendering, however wind and sea conditions certainly could. We tendered off of Liberty to/from Labadee in rain in November.

 

Rain would not prevent them from tendering to CocoCay, but why would I want to go to the island, if it were raining anyway.

 

All the activities on CocoCay are sun/water related...it would be a bummer to be there in the rain.

 

I enjoy CocoCay when we can stop there, but would not want to go on a rainy day....I would rather the ship have 'at sea' day and navigate to an area that was dry to enjoy swimming at the pool at least.

[BearsAhoy]

We missed it on our transatlantic in November (Indy). The skies were clear, but the winds were strong and the waves high. There were rumours the night before that we wouldn't be able to tender, but even the morning of we were told by the concierge that we'd make it. And then we didn't. This is as close as we got:

 

 

Honestly, as sad as I was to miss out, I would not have been comfortable transferring to/from the tender, especially with my kids.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk, please excuse wonky autocorrects.

[FinallyCruisinIn2014]

We have been on 2 cruises with Coco Cay as a stop (both were late March/early April). The first time we missed it because of wind. We were told they could get us there, but there would be complications getting back to the ship at the end of the day. Apparently cruisers in the past were stuck there overnight. Second cruise we were able to go, so we are 50/50 with Coco Cay. The first time it seemed no big deal, and the staff made the most out of a day at sea. When we were finally able to get there, we realized what a great opportunity we had missed! Hope you get to go!

 

:eek: What do they do when people are STUCK??

[TravelerThom]

I thought they used the dock in Labadee. We did last year.

The pier in Labadee opened late 2009 a little over a month before the Earthquake. Before the pier opened everyone tendered there. We tender from Independence in 2009, but we were on the Freedom when it made its first stop after the earthquake. The dock in Labadee was one of the few docks functioning in Haiti at the time, and the UN trucks pulled in to pick up the 179 pallets of emergency supplies that had been lining "I-95" (the central corridor on Deck 2 crew area). RCI carried the supplies at no charge.

[TravelerThom]

I have heard that Coco cay is the most missed port in the world...

I might believe that it is the most missed port in the Caribbean, but I rather doubt in the world. I have been lucky enough to have the tenders operating at Port Stanley, Falklands (later that week 1200 people got stuck overnight in Port Stanley; there were a total of 39 rooms for rent in all of the Falklands [most slept on the floor of the school or churches]) and in Port Lockerby, Antarctica, but we did not tender at Pitcairn Island this year.

[fletch1027]

Rain certainly wouldn't deter them from tendering, however wind and sea conditions certainly could. We tendered off of Liberty to/from Labadee in rain in November.

 

Rain would certainly make the line waiting to tender a lot shorter. Rain may not deter the tendering process, but it would deter me from wanting to tender... :)

[mabkcruisers]

:eek: What do they do when people are STUCK??

 

Our waiter in the MDR said they had blankets there for them and they slept on the beach. Didn't experience that firsthand- just taking his word that it happened!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Rocket3D]

Hi.

 

Here's some boring details.

 

On a Majesty bridge tour, in April, DW and I spoke with the Captain

and he said the winter season has many more 'misses' because of

the wind direction then.

 

Here's why (stop here if you don't enjoy details).

 

Look at a map of Coco Cay...it was called Little Stirrup Cay in the past.

If you go to 'Little Stirrup Cay' in Google Earth, zoom out slightly

and you'll see the Majesty anchored.

Notice that the ship anchors to the North of Coco in about

50-60+ feet of water. Bottom is a sandy mix, sand/marl/mud etc.

 

Prevailing Summer winds are mostly from S/SE. Under normal

light wind conditions everything is perfect as can be...and a short

tender ride to shore. A south wind would be pushing the ship away

from the island. A safe thing. Re-read this paragraph.

 

In Winter the wind pattern changes with more NW/N/NE winds

and the anchorage is then exposed (directly) to heavier seas making

tender operations sometimes impossible.

 

.....And secondly, those winds are pushing the ship toward the island,

a potentially (not usually) dangerous thing if tenders are loading

and the anchor(s) slip(s). Yup, it is not good to be so close to shore

with only 25' under the keel and being slowly pushed into shore

(to the 'lee') with tenders attached.

 

By the way, that situation I just described is the source of the term "leeway".

Speaking to the point of this thread...if your forecast winds are ENE at, say, 20 MPH

no way would they risk it.

 

Hope you all aren't sleeping by now.

 

To recap..SW/S/SE winds more common in summer. Safer for ship.

Calmer water for tender operations. Further, NW/N/NE winds,

whether in winter or caused by summer tropical storms make the

anchorage dangerous for tendering operations and no captain wants

wind pushing his ship towards shore.

 

FYI, I have had many boats, ran a dive boat off Key Biscayne and

always, always wanted as much leeway as I could get.

 

 

Bon Voyage.

 

I wrote this last winter....but still holds true.

 

Bob, in Fort Lauderdale

 

:cool:

Edited January 2, 2014 by rocketsurgery

[90poundpoodles]

That answer was perfect.. Showed it to my hubby who is a boater and he got it much better than me trying to explain it. At last check it was east winds 14mph. So I guess we will wait and see, hopefully the wind direction will change and the wind will calm down. I have a few days to go. Thank you for all of the help.

[Rocket3D]

Hi,

Hope you do stop there, it is a neat place...one of

my favorite spots.

:D

[DrD]

The pier in Labadee opened late 2009 a little over a month before the Earthquake. Before the pier opened everyone tendered there. We tender from Independence in 2009, but we were on the Freedom when it made its first stop after the earthquake. The dock in Labadee was one of the few docks functioning in Haiti at the time, and the UN trucks pulled in to pick up the 179 pallets of emergency supplies that had been lining "I-95" (the central corridor on Deck 2 crew area). RCI carried the supplies at no charge.

 

Thanks very interesting. I remember hearing something about that but didn't recall the details.

[hansolosmom]

Rocket surgery - Bob

 

Thank you for that explanation, makes perfect sense.

 

OP - hope you get there, it's one of my favorite spots