Coco Cay, Over Used, Or Not?

[Ret MP]

I just put in a search for an Oasis Class Cruise out of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, or Orlando, in the months of April or May.  Without exception, every cruise that showed up had Coco Cay as part of the itinerary.  Could I have missed something?  Yes!  I feel that if I expand the filters to include all class ships, the vast majority of those would be going, too.  But, that's not the point.  I also read an article not too long ago that cruises out of Galveston will be adding more and more Coco Cay days to their itinerary. 

 

1.  Is RCCL over selling/utilizing the island in your opinion? 

2.  If you are one of those that really like Coco Cay, and you cruise often out of the east coast and Galveston, do you think you will get tired of Coco Cay?

3.  If you don't like Coco Cay, what are you going to do?

 

 

 

 

[ajtaylor29]

We've been twice and loved it both times! imo, there are many things to do so i'll look forward to going again. We were told that they limit the # of ships that can be there on any given day, i'm pretty sure it's 2....? So, to me it hasn't felt crowded either visit which is a good thing.

The first time we went to the Beach Club, very nice and relaxing with minimal crowds. Last month, we rented a beach cabana (there were 4 of us) and had a great day on the beach. 

Both of those cruises were out of Florida, i haven't seen any Galveston cruises going to coco cay yet...? But i wouldn't mind if they do! I feel the same about Labadee. We've been there twice and will look forward to another visit!

[basenji56]

It's a nice beach with some extras.  I like it because the ship is right there, and you don't need to pay for a shore excursion to go to a beach.

[Ourusualbeach]

CocoCay is what you want it to be.  It can be a free beach day or you can choose to pay to do a lot of different things.  Quite frankly I'd rather go there than some of the islands where I have to pay to get to a beach and then pay for food at the beach and pay to get back to the ship.  A beach is a beach.

[taglovestocruise]

Royal just bumped up it's expected visitor numbers for 2023. Increased from 2.5 million to a revised 3.0 million. Also stated all ships going to cococay are sailing with a premium price structure. No idea what the average spend per person is, but they will get their $250 million investment back quickly.   Highest daily price for a over the water cabana in 2022 was $1799,  peak prices in 2023 are expected to settle in at $2200 for a group of eight. 

[time4u2go]

41 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

3.  If you don't like Coco Cay, what are you going to do?

Go on another cruise line.

[smokeybandit]

I think Coco Cay gets tired after you've been there a couple times, but the frequent cruiser isn't who they're marketing it to.

 

 

[Sunshine3601]

We enjoying trying something different each time we go to CocoCay.    It is becoming very familiar to us but we still enjoy.    I look forward to find out more details about the new Adults Only area they are constructing with an expecting opening date of December 2023. 

[Ret MP]

42 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

It's a nice beach with some extras.  I like it because the ship is right there, and you don't need to pay for a shore excursion to go to a beach.

 

26 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

CocoCay is what you want it to be.  It can be a free beach day or you can choose to pay to do a lot of different things.  Quite frankly I'd rather go there than some of the islands where I have to pay to get to a beach and then pay for food at the beach and pay to get back to the ship.  A beach is a beach.

All good points.  

[Denversail]

I like the private islands. I also noticed they are maximizing this stop. When I looked up the ships for our date it is docked with another. It seems like every day this year has an Oasis and smaller ship docked daily. I agree it can be a nice boon for budget families. Those that have the funds can explore a variety of options to keep it fresh.

[Ret MP]

53 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

i haven't seen any Galveston cruises going to coco cay yet...?

Ya, it looks like they are going to start in July 2024:

 

[kruzerci]

Over used. I love CocoCay but have no desire to stop in the Bahamas in the winter. Too many cool weather days and cold fronts. I wish they utilized Labadee more. 

[Denversail]

What would you say are the worst weather months for Coco cay?

[alfaeric]

26 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I think Coco Cay gets tired after you've been there a couple times, but the frequent cruiser isn't who they're marketing it to.

 

 

How is it different than any other port that frequent cruisers go to?   If you've been to Nassau or St Marten or St Thomas or Cozumel etc so many times, Coco Cay is just like every other port you've been to 10 or more times.

[alfaeric]

1 minute ago, Denversail said:

What would you say are the worst weather months for Coco cay?

Depends on what you think worst is.

 

Having been to the island quite a few times during the year, I think the worst would be in the August time frame, where it's really freaking hot, and there's a good risk for hurricanes to change your cruise.

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

How is it different than any other port that frequent cruisers go to?   If you've been to Nassau or St Marten or St Thomas or Cozumel etc so many times, Coco Cay is just like every other port you've been to 10 or more times.

They don't hype those other ports like they do Coco Cay though

[Tlbecker1]

2 minutes ago, Denversail said:

What would you say are the worst weather months for Coco cay?

It can be really windy at Coco-Cay.  We have been there in October, November, December, February and March.  It has rained on us in December & February.  Also the main pool called the Oasis Lagoon isn’t heated.

We still always have a great time and look forward to returning.

[alfaeric]

6 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

They don't hype those other ports like they do Coco Cay though

But you said that it's not appealing to frequent cruisers for some reason.  Not that it's more or less hyped.  I really don't see it different than any other port that we've been to 12 or more times.

 

As I read the question, it's about it being over used or seeing it too often.  I rarely ever read the ads.

 

We've changed what we've done at Coco Cay over the many times we have gone, and still think of it just like any other port like St Marten or Aruba that you have to work to find something new to do.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by alfaeric

[snoozer of the seas]

47 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

  A beach is a beach.

 

And that is why I like Mystery Island in the south pacific. It is just a beach, with not much else. Yes, a few locals boat over and sell souvenirs, boat tours, and braid hair, etc, other than that, sit back and relax (on the towel you brought with you from the ship because there are no deck chairs)

[Ret MP]

4 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

How is it different than any other port that frequent cruisers go to?   If you've been to Nassau or St Marten or St Thomas or Cozumel etc so many times, Coco Cay is just like every other port you've been to 10 or more times.

Look at post #11, for just one example.  It says, "Western Caribbean & Perfect Day".  They (RCCL) doesn't do the same for Cuz or St. Maarten.  

 

 Cozumel is one of those that I try to avoid.  Why?  Because I've been there toooooooo many times.  But, it is a lot easier to avoid today, it's no longer THE THING.  When I used to cruise on Rustbucket Cruise Lines, just about every western Caribbean cruise went there and some Eastern Caribbean too.  RCCL is doing the same with Coco Cay and worse by making it hard to find an itinerary that doesn't go there.  

 

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

They don't hype those other ports like they do Coco Cay though

100%

[Ret MP]

9 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

But you said that it's not appealing to frequent cruisers for some reason. 

I don't remember reading that.  Did he say that?

 

However, I'm a frequent cruiser.  I wasn't going to say this, this early in the thread but I'm not a big fan of Coco Cay.  I'll explain much later.  

 

I will say that that is my opinion/feelings of the island.  I'm not saying that anybody else has to feel the same way or not.  It's mine, all mine.  But, you are welcome to it or not.

[Sunshine3601]

58 minutes ago, Denversail said:

What would you say are the worst weather months for Coco cay?

I have been various times of the year and found August / early September to be hot and humid.   

[Ret MP]

17 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I have been various times of the year and found August / early September to be hot and humid.   

I grew up in Dania, (now known as Dania Beach), Florida, located right in between Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale .  It's about the same Latitude as Coco Cay.  You are definitely correct.  But, I'd expand that to a few more months before and after that.  When I was on Coco Cay last November, it was comfy but a little hot and humid.  I wasn't too active so it didn't bother me much.  Predicting the weather is tough there, like most places.  Everywhere I've lived, which has been many states and a few countries, they always say, "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes".  LOL  Having said that, I think, as far as weather is concerned, that area of the world has the best weather, for me.  Excluding hurricanes that is.  

[Sunshine3601]

12 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

I grew up in Dania, (now known as Dania Beach), Florida, located right in between Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale .  It's about the same Latitude as Coco Cay.  You are definitely correct.  But, I'd expand that to a few more months before and after that.  When I was on Coco Cay last November, it was comfy but a little hot and humid.  I wasn't too active so it didn't bother me much.  Predicting the weather is tough there, like most places.  Everywhere I've lived, which has been many states and a few countries, they always say, "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes".  LOL  Having said that, I think, as far as weather is concerned, that area of the world has the best weather, for me.  Excluding hurricanes that is.  

Very true.   

We usually avoid cruising most months of summer, except an occassional cruise to Bermuda.   Our favorites months to cruise bahamas and caribbean are winter months to escape the cold here in PA.

Edited February 8, 2023 by Sunshine3601

[Ret MP]

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Very true.   

We usually avoid cruising most months of summer, except an occassion cruise to Bermuda.   Our favorites months to cruise bahamas and caribbean are winter months to escape the cold here in PA.

We absolutely loved Bermuda the one time we cruised there.  Would love to do that itinerary again.  Cape Liberty, Bermuda, Boston, Cape Liberty.  Loved the tour and history of Boston.  Actually, we'd rather leave from Florida.