How bad is Cococay with 11000 people?

[Airbear232]

On 3/13/2024 at 7:32 AM, Neosophy said:

The Allure is going to be in port with us (Anthem) both in Nassau and then CoCoCay the next day.  Five ships total in Nassau with 22500 total people gives us some concern about our Atlantis waterpark plans, but hopefully the $200 ticket price will keep some folks away.

 

More concerning is CoCoCay.  Anyone been there with two large ships before? 

 

We have a Waterpark Cabana we reserved early, but we are considering dropping it for Beach Club day pass if CoCoCay is going to be so packed that the kids (8 and 11) would get little time on the slides.  We are thinking that at the Beach Club we could get floating mats and snorkel gear and they could enjoy the ocean instead.

As others have noted, getting off early is a big help.  This is especially true with the water park, where kids can go on the slides with more ease.  As well, you have a Cabana and there is a limit to the number of tickets for the waterpark, so you are good.  Enjoy!

[bestcee]

We were there on a fully booked Oasis (lots of 4 in the room) and Jewel of the Seas April (Spring Break) 2023. We vetoed the water park and I'm glad we did. The lines for that weren't bad for the first 30 min, but by 11 am the slide lines were long! We heard one person say they waited 45 min for the slide around 12:30pm. Those lines stayed until 4pm, and all aboard was 4:30 for both ships.

Our group had kids 5, 10, 11,12, and 16-18. They just played on all the free stuff and enjoyed themselves. We switched to the back beach and that was quieter with more chairs available. 

Edited March 16 by bestcee

[Itchy&Scratchy]

19 hours ago, gavvy said:

Does anyone know why all ships seem to go to Nassau?

they do? In all the years of cruising, we've managed to visit Nassau only once (on RCI). We went to the Blue Lagoon, and it was glorious!

Edited March 16 by Itchy&Scratchy

[BND]

17 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

The cruise ships that are not American registered must stop at least once during a cruise that originates and returns from an American port.

 

 

Huh?  All ships don't stop there during a cruise from the US.

Edited March 16 by BND

[nelblu]

23 hours ago, gavvy said:

Does anyone know why all ships seem to go to Nassau? Do RCL have some sort of obligation to go there or something. While it's not the worst place to be there must be other places nearby they could mix it up with? Or is that not the case?

 

I wouldn't say we were disappointed with the island but I can see how it would get old quick to frequent cruiser's 

I usually sail from New Jersey and Nassau is one of the few places that can be reached on a 7-night sail.  The last time (February 9). there were 6 ships at the same time--2 RCL, 2 Carnival and 2 MSC.  Port Canaveral had either 7 or 8 spread out.

 

Wonderful view from the Anthem's North Star.

Edited March 16 by nelblu

[gavvy]

4 hours ago, BND said:

Huh?  All ships don't stop there during a cruise from the US.

 

Well if course not all do. But for such a meh place there does seem to be an awful lot of ships from all companies going there. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, gavvy said:

 

Well if course not all do. But for such a meh place there does seem to be an awful lot of ships from all companies going there. 

 

2 minutes ago, gavvy said:

 

Well if course not all do. But for such a meh place there does seem to be an awful lot of ships from all companies going there. 

You are correct. My intent that it is an easy port that can hold up to seven ships at a time. As opposed to Coco Cay that can only handle two. Bimini might handle two ships.

 

Nassau can handle a huge amount of port excursions and activities which is key driver of cruise company income.

[BND]

44 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

You are correct. My intent that it is an easy port that can hold up to seven ships at a time. As opposed to Coco Cay that can only handle two. Bimini might handle two ships.

 

Nassau can handle a huge amount of port excursions and activities which is key driver of cruise company income.

That's not what you said. You said they "must" stop there at least once during a cruise. 

[Donsyb]

26 minutes ago, BND said:

That's not what you said. You said they "must" stop there at least once during a cruise. 

They meant they must stop at a port outside the US

[Donsyb]

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-to-increase-capacity-at-its-private-island/93983
 

here’s the quote saying capacity with hideaway bay is 13,000

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, BND said:

Huh?  All ships don't stop there during a cruise from the US.

I think he meant stop somewhere, not necessarily Nassau. However, with RCI doing so many short cruises these days I think Nassau and CC are convenient ways to meet the letter of the law.

[Ocean Boy]

No idea why there is so much hate on Nassau. I really like it there.

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I think he meant stop somewhere, not necessarily Nassau. However, with RCI doing so many short cruises these days I think Nassau and CC are convenient ways to meet the letter of the law.

You are correct, I should have clarified that it is not a "must" stop but a convenient way of meeting legal requirements when non US flagged ships start and stop in a US port.

[Sunshine3601]

22 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

No idea why there is so much hate on Nassau. I really like it there.

Same here.    We have had some great days exploring the island.    I think some people just get off the ship and walk around to shop or find a restaurant vs. leaving the port area and checking out what the island has to offer.

[cruisers122024]

We were on icon and I was really upset to see another ship there. I belief it was adventure. It was awfully crowded. Lines for food, lines for drinks, bumping into people in the beach, no beach chairs. Kids were running into each other at splash away bay. We had an awful experience and thinking to stop  cruising with RC as even just our boat felt so crowded. Late July sailing, I don’t know how many guests on board, how do people get that information?

[OCSC Mike]

No issues for us last month. We were there on Wonder with Allure. It helps that we always get off the ship early and spend the day parked at our favorite spot by the Oasis Lagoon. It was nearly as much of a ghost town at 8:30am as it is when we've been there alone on Wonder. It didn't start to get crowded until after 10am as usual and even then it wasn't a big deal. Lines at both the nearest Snack Shack and Chill Grill (including the bar there) weren't bad at all. The pool eventually got more crowded but we mostly just hop in to cool off for a little bit and get back out... but it still wasn't overly crowded IMO.

 

Perhaps if we had a different routine we would have had a different experience.

[Southern Dan]

I'm on Symphony in November and we'll be at Coco Cay with Oasis.  I'm planning on being off the boat as soon as we dock and hightailing it to Hideaway Bay to get a good spot.

[Cutigerlady]

We have been multiple times with 2 big ships and had no issues. We like the back side of the Oasis Lagoon pool and easily found seats for our large party around 9:00.
 

At Christmas it was crowded in the water park, so my kids enjoyed the slides early and then after 2:00 it was empty!  In the mid of the day they spent hours in the wave pool and obstacle course area. we had a cabana there and really enjoyed the day. The attendant brought my kids food at 10:30 and they had a second lunch a few hours later. 
 

i think the beach club gets much busier and it was harder to find a spot to sit. My kids like it in the winter because the pool is heated, but they are pretty strict about no splashing/playing in the pool. My kids weren’t doing that, but heard lots of comments to other kids. If you don’t get there early, you end of eating lunch very early or late. 

[sgmn]

1 hour ago, cruisers122024 said:

We were on icon. I don’t know how many guests on board, how do people get that information?

Often on the first night in the theatre the cruise director's will give out the total on board figures. Otherwise on the repeat cruisers "party' or 'captains corner" talk.

A summer cruise on Icon is going to be at maximum capacity with lots of cabins with three or four in

  And with so many short cruises now going to Coco Cay it will be unusual to only have one ship there

 

 

 

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, cruisers122024 said:

I don’t know how many guests on board, how do people get that information?

Welcome to CC.

Before the sailing you usually can't but during the sailing, there'll likely be a C&A event where the numbers on board are announced.

[alishac]

1 hour ago, cruisers122024 said:

We were on icon and I was really upset to see another ship there. I belief it was adventure. It was awfully crowded. Lines for food, lines for drinks, bumping into people in the beach, no beach chairs. Kids were running into each other at splash away bay. We had an awful experience and thinking to stop  cruising with RC as even just our boat felt so crowded. Late July sailing, I don’t know how many guests on board, how do people get that information?

We were on Icon in June and were docked with another ship and had the same horrible experience. I've been to Coco Cay many times before, and if this had been my first, I would have never gone back. The crowds were frustrating and really ruined the day. With the number of people on Icon, they should not be in Coco Cay with another ship, IMO.

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, cruisers122024 said:

We were on icon and I was really upset to see another ship there. I belief it was adventure. It was awfully crowded. Lines for food, lines for drinks, bumping into people in the beach, no beach chairs. Kids were running into each other at splash away bay. We had an awful experience and thinking to stop  cruising with RC as even just our boat felt so crowded. Late July sailing, I don’t know how many guests on board, how do people get that information?

I was on Adventure with Icon at Coco Cay in June and I was surprised how empty the place was, especially in the morning.  There were tons of chairs available until about 11am and by the time we went back to the ship after we ate lunch, still plenty of space, just not in as desirable of spots.

And it's easy to find out how many guests on board: ask any officer you see 

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, Southern Dan said:

I'm on Symphony in November and we'll be at Coco Cay with Oasis.  I'm planning on being off the boat as soon as we dock and hightailing it to Hideaway Bay to get a good spot.

 

I suspect we're there at the same time, except we're on Oasis.  I've booked a cabana.  I'm not interested in that level of crowd. Hopefully that will help mitigate the overcrowded feeling.  

[Southern Dan]

1 minute ago, Tree_skier said:

 

I suspect we're there at the same time, except we're on Oasis

We'll be there Thanksgiving Week.  Will be my first Royal Caribbean cruise since January of 2000, looking forward to it!

[Tree_skier]

4 minutes ago, Southern Dan said:

We'll be there Thanksgiving Week.  Will be my first Royal Caribbean cruise since January of 2000, looking forward to it!

Oops, Apparently I can't read LOL. I thought I read December when you wrote November 🙂 That's the week we are there the same time as Symphony 🫠