Today we arrived at the beautiful island of CocoCay, Bahamas, which is Royal Caribbean’s private island.
Back in February, we had visited Perfect Day at CocoCay for the first time in nearly 13 years. We were super impressed with how the island had been transformed into a private island oasis.
Needless to say, Angie and I were super excited to return to CocoCay. It’s such a fun stop with great music, delicious food and tropical vibes around every corner. It’s an easy going day with everything all in one convenient spot.
Late Morning
I’m embarrassed to say we had a late start to our day - to the point that we missed breakfast in the Windjammer! I must have jinxed myself yesterday because I really didn’t sleep well last night, which is unusual for me on a cruise. I was awake throughout the night and finally fell back asleep in the early morning.
I could feel the ship swaying and waves were crashing against the ship’s hull, so I was in no rush to wake up. Angie had reported that we might arrive late into port today because of the wind, so I was convinced all morning that we simply hadn’t arrived to port yet because I could feel the ship moving.
Low and behold, when we finally awoke from our pitch-black slumber, we had no idea where we were or what time it was. We turned on the TV map to confirm that we had indeed arrived in CocoCay and it was 11:00 AM. I guess the wind must have been substantial enough to make the ship continue to sway even while docked.
That’s one of the downsides on an inside cabin I suppose, we really have no concept of time or location without a window.
Everyone must have been ashore by the time we left our cabin because the ship was virtually dead as we made our way to deck 1 and onto CocoCay.
It was certainly a bit windy as we walked along the shoreline, but it was very comfortable once we reached the island. The sun started to peak out and it really was a perfect day.
Allure of the Seas was supposed to dock with us today but was unable to make it due to reported medical emergencies. Therefore, the island felt pretty empty with only our ship docked.
Perfect Day at CocoCay
Since we had missed breakfast, we were very ready to grab some lunch. Snack Shack is a great spot for food, so we made our way across the island for a quick bite to eat.
Angie and I had the crispy chicken sandwich with basil mayo - it’s deliciousness reminded us both of Chick Fil A. Per recommendations, we also ordered the cheese sticks, which were equally as cheesy as they were crispy.
We polished off our meal with a funnel cake, which I have deemed an absolute must-have when visiting CocoCay. Deep fried sweet dough covered in powdered sugar. How often can you get a funnel cake these days anyway… unless you’re dragging yourself to your local state fair in the summer?! Just go for it and thank us later!
The party tunes were blasting from Oasis Lagoon, so we made our way over to the swim-up bar. This was our favorite spot when we visited in February - it’s such a fun atmosphere and everyone’s always having a good time drinking to the DJ’s remixes.
We also had it on our agenda to try out the floating tiki bar on South Beach. We weren’t entirely sure where the bar was located, so we started wandering around towards the hot air balloon (which wasn’t running today because of wind).
Eventually, we found rows of beach chairs and umbrellas on South Beach with the famous floating tiki bar off in the distance.
The water was turquoise blue and felt refreshing after walking in the sand and heat. South Beach was much quieter and felt very low key, so this would be a great place to relax if you prefer a more serene beach experience.
We did, indeed, have to swim a bit to get to the floating bar. As we hoisted ourselves up on the bar, it was pretty packed with other cruisers. We waited for a bit while the bartender left the bar and started to make a few calls.
Someone told us the bar had ran out of ice, which was bad luck timing for us. We didn’t feel like waiting for the logistics to play out regarding how exactly more ice would be transported to the floating tiki bar, so we swam back to the beach.
Since we love Oasis Lagoon so much, we went back for a few more drinks and to enjoy the DJ again. Angie opted for a Bahama mama while I tried out the watermelon margarita. It’s dangerously easy to access your Diamond + vouchers at the swim-up bar!
Drinks were flowing and the tunes were bopping as we soaked in the sun in the freshwater pool.
Back Onboard
By now, it was around 3:00 PM so we decided to return back to our ship and get ready for the evening. We could see the waterslides were running, so we thought that would be fun since we were already in our swimsuits.
Angie and I both took our turns on the waterslides, twisting and turning through the tunnels. We agreed that the slide didn’t go as fast as we were expecting. Angie said the slides on Harmony of the Seas were faster and a bit more thrilling. Perhaps the slides are meant for younger (and smaller) cruisers. Still fun to try though!
It was nice that we didn’t have to wait in any lines - we actually saw some people going multiple times in a row. Long lines have been a recurring theme on this cruise, so it was nice to see this. This pre-departure timeframe seemed like the opportune time to try out the onboard thrills with minimal waiting required.
To my surprise, the SkyPad trampoline experience was open! I figured with the winds that it wouldn’t be open today. Drenched in both beach and pool water, I wasn’t equipped to seize the opportunity and jump in line (that was punny, eh?!). I am determined to do the SkyPad tomorrow and I’ll be angsty if it’s too windy when I try again.
Famished Tummies
Angie and I returned to our cabin for a quick change and grabbed our laptops. We were hoping to get on the internet to catch up on work emails while grabbing a snack at the Cafe Promenade.
Well, apparently everyone had the same idea because the line was wrapped around to Ben and Jerry’s again and the Internet virtually crashed simultaneously. Big bummer.
Angie had a great idea to head to the Diamond Lounge - it would probably be quieter and we could grab some hors d'oeuvres. Since it was about 45 minutes before these would be served, we sat in the lounge and caught up on our work emails.
The hors d'oeuvres were served promptly at 5:00 PM, consisting of more cheesy sticks, corn fritters and chicken wings. By this time, I was basically famished by cruising standards so the snacks were devoured.
I was a little nervous about how our dinner situation would play out again. Again, we didn’t feel like sitting with strangers so we asked the hostess if we could sit elsewhere just the two of us. He was a bit frazzled, but ended up accommodating us at an empty table of 8.
Angie and I both ordered the chicken parmesan and Mississippi mudslide pie for dessert. I started with some needed greenery by ordering Cesar salad. Angie ordered the mushroom risotto (which is funny, since she claims she doesn’t like mushrooms). This was actually and entree tonight but she requested it as an appetizer. Angie also splurged on a second dessert and tried the apple blossom. Everything was delicious!
It was probably the fastest meal we’ve ever eaten in the dining room; we were in and out within 30 minutes! Our waiters were hilarious - I wish we could have had them every night.
Our originally assigned table was around the corner and it didn’t seem to be the liveliest bunch. Cruising is certainly back if they’re sitting strangers together again!
Right after dinner, we had some RoyalCaribbeanBlog fans introduce themselves to us! This was our first time meeting blog fans in real life; it was such a special moment!
Evening Fun
After blushing in my new found stardom (joking!), we made our way to the Royal Theatre for the nightly show. Tonight’s entertainment was a dual show starting with a family-friendly comedian and followed by a juggler. We both loved the variety show and laughed many times!
If there’s one topic that’s going to come up during a family-friendly comedy show, I guarantee it will be flatulence! Mark my words, the next time you go to one of these shows, it’s not a matter of if, but when, the topic comes up.
When the show concluded, we took a spin at the casino to use our free Diamond + free spins. Last night, Angie won $20 on her free spins so she was anxious for me to use mine. As my luck would have it, I won absolutely nothing.
I forgot that smoking was back in the casino, which I really didn’t miss as one of the pandemic protocols.
We also picked out our free Diamond + photo from the gallery tonight with hopes of avoiding congestion tomorrow. We each get a free photo, so we selected the pictures that should be ready for pickup tomorrow evening. This seems to be way more sustainable than printing every single photo like Royal Caribbean used to!
Tomorrow we will be docked in Nassau on our final day. We have a resort day pass booked for the RIU Palace in Nassau - this is our first time doing a resort day pass while cruising! I just discovered our vouchers needed to be printed for tomorrow - which prompted us to panic about where we can print something onboard.
Mariner has a library located on deck 5 with computers and a printer. We were able to access my email by using the internet package login, so that worked nicely.
