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I love snorkeling, so I am always interested in a boat ride to a natural reef with snorkeling off the beach as my fall back plan.  I thought I saw a snorkeling excursion the last time I checked (instead of the at your leisure snorkeling).

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DON'T pay for the thrill waterpark...it is way overbooked and overcrowded!  We arrived at 9 am, stood in line a half hour for a slide, then in line 2 hours for the tall red slide, went to lunch, stood in line for another slide and park was shut down for inclement weather. RC refunded 37%, but we ended up still paying $40 for each person (X 5 people = $200) to ride on 2 slides!!!!!! The remainder of island is beautiful...don't waste your money on the waterpark!

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2 hours ago, J Haage said:

DON'T pay for the thrill waterpark...it is way overbooked and overcrowded!  We arrived at 9 am, stood in line a half hour for a slide, then in line 2 hours for the tall red slide, went to lunch, stood in line for another slide and park was shut down for inclement weather. RC refunded 37%, but we ended up still paying $40 for each person (X 5 people = $200) to ride on 2 slides!!!!!! The remainder of island is beautiful...don't waste your money on the waterpark!

This is true. Besides, the pool is enough of an excursion to last all day (and it’s free). 

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2 hours ago, J Haage said:

DON'T pay for the thrill waterpark...it is way overbooked and overcrowded!  We arrived at 9 am, stood in line a half hour for a slide, then in line 2 hours for the tall red slide, went to lunch, stood in line for another slide and park was shut down for inclement weather. RC refunded 37%, but we ended up still paying $40 for each person (X 5 people = $200) to ride on 2 slides!!!!!! The remainder of island is beautiful...don't waste your money on the waterpark!

Wow. Now that ships are no longer tendering, it would make sense to just use the slides on the ship while everyone else is on the lines at Cococay.

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We love Coco Cay.  For us it is just a relax day on the beach.  I would get at least the clam shell lounger.  Yes. they have unlimited umbrellas, but the clam shell gives even more shade.  

We did the par sailing the last time there and it was awesome.  They take you out in groups of 8 and you basically circle the island.

Otherwise I would not spend a dime.  We did book a cabana for this cruise, but it is because 1 of the people in our group is insanely fair, and we got it for 449.  There are 6 of us, so it was 75 pp.  

 

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We were just at Coco Cay yesterday and I would concur that the water park did not appear to be worth the money.  If you have children who would really enjoy the smaller water slides then maybe....but I will tell you that those smaller water slides yesterday were PACKED. The line was solid all the way from the ground to the landing.  I could not really see how crowded the tall water slides were but the shorter one was really, really crowded. Due to winds the helium ballon was grounded  and my opinion is that this balloon will be grounded more often than it will be operational.  Great idea but completely impractical, I think.  I don’t look for it to be duplicated at other sites.

I agree that the free pool is the place to be unless you want the beach.  We ate lunch at the Chill Grill and the food was very good.  They had a portobello mushroom flat bread sandwich that was delicious !  There are so many loungers, umbrellas and places to sit.  Very nice. We didn’t spend a dime and enjoyed the day very much.

I felt bad for the Norwegian ship pax that were on their island. They had to tender in and I could just hear the sounds of little voices saying, “ mommy, I want to go over THERE” pointing towards Coco Cay.  

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4 hours ago, BethGR said:

My friends were there last week and said that construction continues around the South Beach area but the floating bar WAS still open!  We go in a week, we're excited!  (Not only about the floating bar, but that will be fun...)

Yes there is construction at South Beach and yes, the floating bar was open yesterday.

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3 hours ago, Hoski said:

I love this thread because I recently read about someone complaining that the water park was sold out on her sailing and they should sell unlimited tickets yet here it says about it being so crowded it isn't worth the money. 

That would so make my day being told the water park is sold out. Makes it easier to tell the kids. We'll be there late Sep and there is no way I'm dropping ~$260 for them to get bored in less than 2 hours. ?

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On 6/30/2019 at 11:37 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

I felt bad for the Norwegian ship pax that were on their island. They had to tender in and I could just hear the sounds of little voices saying, “ mommy, I want to go over THERE” pointing towards Coco Cay.  

That was the voice of @monorailmedic, because he was at that island this past weekend

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On 6/29/2019 at 11:26 AM, jake1004 said:

So many options- what would you do for an excursion at Cococay if it was your first time back?

I wouldn't do an "excursion"...I'd lay on the beach...actually, that is my plan next week!

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We were there last week on Navigator; Majesty was there as well (diverted from Cuba.). This is just to give an idea of the amount of passengers the island accommodated.  The Thrill waterpark slides are in two clusters.  The tall tower has several slides, and a small cluster, also with several slides.   We did not have waterpark admission, but were with several people that did.  The long wait were for two of the slides specifically; Daredevils Peak (the very tallest one in the tower), and the Slingshot, (the raft family one in the smaller cluster.). Those slides had up to an hour and a half wait.  The others did not.  The waterpark admission also includes the wave pool if that is something you’d enjoy.   

We had a cabana around the Oasis Lagoon ($349 for 8 people) and we loved it.  Having the towels there, water bottles on ice, and an attendant in addition to the shade, power, and ceiling fan, was worth it.  We loved the splash pad, too.  That was truly the only cold refreshing water on the island. south Beach is gorgeous.  Enjoy your day!

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On 6/30/2019 at 11:37 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

... I could just hear the sounds of little voices saying, “ mommy, I want to go over THERE” pointing towards Coco Cay.  

Let those kids head to Coco Cay, I don't need water slides and balloons to make me happy ?

I don't doubt that one factor in their color and height decisions at Coco was visibility to Norwegian guests - it's especially visible from the rather impressive villa area at the far end of Great Stirrup.  On both islands, I'm just hopeful they can maintain a "remote island" and peaceful atmosphere for those not looking for a theme-park experience.  For those who are, I am glad it's an option.

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This thread is super informative. I loved Coco Cay as it was. A quiet island to spend the day and have some real relaxation. Tendering was always a small obstacle but nit insurmoutable at all. 

RCL is in the business to make money. I get that. But the prices there are simply outrageous in my mind. Cabanas for $1200!!! We are probably in the minoruty but we are 2 travelors who dont (or wont) travel in large groups that could possibly defray the cost by splitting it. So that is out. The waterpark seemed interesting but seeing the costs and hearing about the Disney World sized lines doesnt seem worth it to us. 

Having said that I envourage EVERYONE to debark and hang out on the island for as much times as possible. It will create even more quiet spaces on the ship for us :1_grinning:

If you are looking for an excursion on the island I would suggest trying the jet ski's. This is not a "tour" of the island so much as it is a full throttle sprint around the island. It is fast, it is bumpy and it is exhilirating. The only time we were not moving was when the guide stopped to let people catch up to the lead guide. I have done this excursion twice and both times more than one party dropped out to be escorted slowly back to the dock.

We may get off the ship for the portobello mushroom panini sandwich that @WAAAYTOOO spoke of though! 

 

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The cabanas will vary in price just like the drink prices.  I have a chill island cabana and got it for 449, on my cruise, next week the only cabanas left are Thrill and they are at 799.  We are going as a group, so that is why I went for the cabana.  When we go alone I have no problem getting the beach bed or clamshells.  

Now I agree that there is a price level for me and I am sure for every passenger.  I have read that the over water cabanas will be in the 1200 range, and there is no way I would ever pay for that even if I shared with others.  (@150 pp if they take eight people) If it went down to 800 than I would seriously consider it.  The way I see it is that it would be @100 pp, just doing a parasailing expedition would cost about the same amount for 90 mins.  Jet ski would be close to that too pp.  However, if I could lock in a cabana on the beach for 450 I would still do that compared to the over water cabana.

 

 

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You are absolutely correct @Pima1988 I did notice some variations on the prices of the cabanas and it is truly all about price point for folks. I think that when I saw the $1200 it just shocked me. People are willing to pay those prices clearly because RCL, like any other business, is going to charge what the market will bear and good for them and thier shareholders making a profit I say.

I started my post with "I loved Coco Cay the way it was" and I may have veered off topic with the cabana price comments. It is abeautiful place to visit. We have been extremely fortunate to have been able to visit there as many times as we have and will return of course as we stay pretty loyal to RCL. No doubt that many happy family memories, and a few sore wallets, will happen there for those who want that kind of experience on vacation.

It's probably another topic to start here, but with all of the experience "improvements" to ships and over-producing (IMHO) a quiet private island to draw in the ever changing clientele that are now cruising (very children friendly) it may be time for this grumpy old man to look at the other alternatives in cruise lines. We are the relax and unplug type of cruisers and I can sometimes feel like a relic on RCL because we are just looking for a little sun on our faces, some good food, warm sea breezes and some peace and quiet.

No disrespect here to anyone who is looking forward too and most likely will have a GREAT time on the island. @jake1004 I have no doubt that the rest of this great blog community will give you most excellent tips on things to do there.

 

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Recently visited the Perfect Day @ Coco Cay on Harmony cruise. We, too, preferred the island as it was. (And so did our teenage kids. We can go to water parks at home.) Chill Island still retains some of the old feel. Note that the swim/snorkel area is smaller and no longer includes the small plane wreck that we loved to visit. We consulted the lifeguard manning the perimeter rope out in the water who indicated the wreck was now beyond their boundary. We did see a lot of great fish and multiple lobster. 

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On 6/29/2019 at 12:13 PM, ChessE4 said:

I love snorkeling, so I am always interested in a boat ride to a natural reef with snorkeling off the beach as my fall back plan.  I thought I saw a snorkeling excursion the last time I checked (instead of the at your leisure snorkeling)

I did give you snorkel info above but here is more: We had originally booked the snorkel excursion with our friends but are very happy that we cancelled that trip. We enjoyed our snorkel experience right from Chill Island and did not have to be on a schedule. The required vests were free. We did have our own equipment because we go scuba diving in the other ports and bring our own, but they have equipment available. (Not sure of price to rent.) There are lockers available (free during our visit) to store your belongings while you snorkel. Enjoy!

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Here are a few pics from our snorkel adventures off Chill Island. Visibility was not the best the day we were there but neither was the weather. We had a great time anyway. Loved the lobster & saw more colorful fish than pictured here. I included the cheerful yellow tang. (There is one to the left in the lobster photo, too.) There were a lot of snorkelers by the shallow shipwreck when we were over there, so the sand was really disturbed, impacting visibility. 

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3 hours ago, Sea Turtle said:

Here are a few pics from our snorkel adventures off Chill Island. Visibility was not the best the day we were there but neither was the weather. We had a great time anyway. Loved the lobster & saw more colorful fish than pictured here. I included the cheerful yellow tang. (There is one to the left in the lobster photo, too.) There were a lot of snorkelers by the shallow shipwreck when we were over there, so the sand was really disturbed, impacting visibility. 

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Great pics!   I made crude drawings of some of the fish I saw there, some of which I can't identify.  Next time I'll need to try a camera.

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