2 Perfect Day Stops

[Rants]

So it looks like our 4 night Mariner cruise in April 2020 is being changed from one stop in Perfect Day to two stops (With Nassau in between). Is this common on the shorter cruises to remove the At Sea day? Seems like a lot of Perfect Day over 3 days...

[WannaCruise]

Our 4 night Mariner is affected too.  Aside from the 3 day cruises, I don't think this is common.  Guess a trial?  Not sure how I feel about it.

Good

• Will lesson crowds on the ship (compared with a sea day)
• Flexible if you just want to enjoy the beach, big pool again or food options
• Can pick one day as waterpark day and one day as relaxing beach/pool day (definitely not both as park is very $$$)

Bad

• I enjoy watching the water as she ship moves - won't be much of that (just at night)
• We enjoy sea days taking advantage of the ship with lots of activities going on compared with port days - so less activities if all port days?
• For this specific cruise, we have aft balcony....so won't be able to watch wake as much

Can see the advantage for Royal though...more excursions purchased, cheaper keeping ship still for a day

[CruisinUpinLife]

Another good is less movement on the ship if the ship is docked during the sea day instead of being at sea.  It will be interesting to see how this trial plays out.

[jticarruthers]

I did the 3 day on Mariner several times this year, have to say the only thing i didnt care for was not having a sea day at all. Definitely missed having a day of shipboard activities, probably staying aboard in Nassau next time but as you noted they dont do the full slate of activities on board on a port day.

All in all, probably about as good of a "problem" as one can have

[monctonguy]

Money money money.....pretty soon they will just have cruises that dock there for days on end...spend spend spend ppl.....

[WAAAYTOOO]

The thing I enjoy the most about a sea day (besides not having to get up early if I have an excursion) is that the casino is open all day. I’m sure the casino staff loves this kind of itin change.

[twangster]

The majority of guests boarding Mariner have never been on a cruise before.  

Perfect Day is proving to be immensely popular for good reason.

Combine the two and I can understand why they are trying this.

If the feedback is positive they'll likely continue, if not they likely won't.

The idea of two stops is appealing.  That's taking me two cruises, one last week and another next week.  

 

Let's examine this concept that the new Perfect Day is a money grab compared to the old CocoCay. 

Thrill water park is a small section of the island.  Beyond the water park the same excursions are available that always have been at CocoCay, except...

Remember the old Aqua Park?  $37 for one hour.  That's it in the distance. Yep, that's what you got for one hour and $37 back in 2017.

Remember the old slides from 2017?  $26 for a day pass.  Not included in the Aqua Park.

Now for roughly the same price of the old aqua park and old slide you get an entire water park with wave pool and multiple slides that are incredible.

Thrill water park is $62 in most of my upcoming stops at CocoCay.  To me that represents pretty great value compared to the CocoCay of yesterday.

BTW - see all those loungers in the top picture?  Notice anything missing?  The $20 umbrellas!

Here is a Perfect Day picture from last week.  Now, umbrellas all over the place and they are free!

If you just want a relaxing beach day without spending a dime that describes 90% of Perfect Day including a free fresh water pool and now Perfect Day is so much nicer than the old CocoCay.  If you want a water park, the price today has so much more value compared to the old Aqua park and inflatable slide of yesterday's CocoCay at the same price.

Plus no more tendering!  Come and go from the ship as much as you want.  

What's not to love about Perfect Day?

[SpeedNoodles]

I'd love it if they did this to my Navigator sailing in Dec!

[Ogalthorpe Haywood]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

.

Thrill water park is $62 in most of my upcoming stops at CocoCay.  To me that represents pretty great value compared to the CocoCay of yesterday.

!

Geez $62, I’ll be on oasis next May and it’s $79.  That’s a huge difference when you have a family of 4 or more. I would think it would be cheaper for the bigger ships. Anyway I love the idea of 2 days at cococay, I could definitely skip either port Canaveral or Nassau. Preferably Port Canaveral  

[WAAAYTOOO]

Actually, it’s more expensive for the bigger ships b/c there is more competition for space and attractions with the large populations of the big ships.  

[CruisinUpinLife]

18 minutes ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Geez $62, I’ll be on oasis next May and it’s $79.  That’s a huge difference when you have a family of 4 or more. I would think it would be cheaper for the bigger ships. Anyway I love the idea of 2 days at cococay, I could definitely skip either port Canaveral or Nassau. Preferably Port Canaveral  

And it's probably more expensive if there are multiple ships port at Coco Cay.

[Matt]

Very well stated @twangster!

[OrlandoC]

It's $38 right now for our Mariner 4 day in October. We are sharing with Grandeur that day too. 

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, OrlandoC said:

It's $38 right now for our Mariner 4 day in October. We are sharing with Grandeur that day too. 

Buy it!  Even if you are unsure you can always cancel later.

I scored a zip line and thrill water park combp for ~$60 for an upcoming cruise.  Then Perfect Day demand went through the roof and prices adjusted upward.

[Vancity Cruiser]

Symphony is doing cruises with stops at both Labadee and Coco cay in January 2021. I jumped all over that one. Like @twangster posted earlier I am one of those who loves a nice relaxing beach day and being able to do it for free on 2 stops on the same cruise is extremely appealing to me

 

[sk8erguy1978]

10 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Symphony is doing cruises with stops at both Labadee and Coco cay in January 2021. I jumped all over that one. Like @twangster posted earlier I am one of those who loves a nice relaxing beach day and being able to do it for free on 2 stops on the same cruise is extremely appealing to me

 

I am headed straight to Royal's site to check on prices! I would LOVE Symphony & two private islands! Take my resort to two private islands for relaxing easy peasy beach day? I'm in.

[The Cruise Junkie]

My Jan 2020 Des Not Have A Second Stop At Coco Cay

[WannaCruise]

4 hours ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Geez $62, I’ll be on oasis next May and it’s $79.  That’s a huge difference when you have a family of 4 or more. I would think it would be cheaper for the bigger ships. Anyway I love the idea of 2 days at cococay, I could definitely skip either port Canaveral or Nassau. Preferably Port Canaveral  

Ditto. Our waterpark tickets on 3 of our sailings are $105 CAD each.  Like you, pretty expensive for a family of 4.  No way we'll be purchasing for both days.

[Flacruiser99]

6 hours ago, twangster said:

The majority of guests boarding Mariner have never been on a cruise before.  

Perfect Day is proving to be immensely popular for good reason.

Combine the two and I can understand why they are trying this.

If the feedback is positive they'll likely continue, if not they likely won't.

The idea of two stops is appealing.  That's taking me two cruises, one last week and another next week.  

 

Let's examine this concept that the new Perfect Day is a money grab compared to the old CocoCay. 

Thrill water park is a small section of the island.  Beyond the water park the same excursions are available that always have been at CocoCay, except...

Remember the old Aqua Park?  $37 for one hour.  That's it in the distance. Yep, that's what you got for one hour and $37 back in 2017.

Remember the old slides from 2017?  $26 for a day pass.  Not included in the Aqua Park.

Now for roughly the same price of the old aqua park and old slide you get an entire water park with wave pool and multiple slides that are incredible.

Thrill water park is $62 in most of my upcoming stops at CocoCay.  To me that represents pretty great value compared to the CocoCay of yesterday.

BTW - see all those loungers in the top picture?  Notice anything missing?  The $20 umbrellas!

Here is a Perfect Day picture from last week.  Now, umbrellas all over the place and they are free!

If you just want a relaxing beach day without spending a dime that describes 90% of Perfect Day including a free fresh water pool and now Perfect Day is so much nicer than the old CocoCay.  If you want a water park, the price today has so much more value compared to the old Aqua park and inflatable slide of yesterday's CocoCay at the same price.

Plus no more tendering!  Come and go from the ship as much as you want.  

What's not to love about Perfect Day?

Is the nature trail still there?

[twangster]

51 minutes ago, Flacruiser99 said:

Is the nature trail still there?

No.  

[Pen]

I would be thrilled if our Oct. 2020 on Oasis traded the Nassau stop for a second day at Cococay.  I doubt we can do all we want on 1 visit.

[monctonguy]

I

 

15 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Ditto. Our waterpark tickets on 3 of our sailings are $105 CAD each.  Like you, pretty expensive for a family of 4.  No way we'll be purchasing for both days.

Always nice to see both sides of the story presented.....from what I have heard and seen..this is much more the norm....not to mention some are sold out 6 mths on advance.

 

Royal aint brining ppl here to sit in the beach and pay nothing...don't ever let anyone try to tell you otherwise.

[Rants]

Not sure if it is directly related to the itinerary change but I have since learned that this sailing has been chartered. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming 

[AshleyDillo]

59 minutes ago, Rants said:

Not sure if it is directly related to the itinerary change but I have since learned that this sailing has been chartered. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming 

Are you getting that because the itinerary has been pulled from booking availability?  I hear a lot of them with this double-dip itinerary were pulled from new bookings availability, so it may not be a charter issue.

[Rants]

43 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Are you getting that because the itinerary has been pulled from booking availability?  I hear a lot of them with this double-dip itinerary were pulled from new bookings availability, so it may not be a charter issue.

I was getting the charter message when I looked on the app and customer service confirmed it but stated they couldn’t provide me with any more info. He said the reservation was frozen at this time and that I would be sent info about cancellation, etc as soon as it was finalized. He said he had no timetable for when that would be.

All I got was this other email 

[jeffge]

What are the exact dates of the effected cruises?  I would like to book one of these with 2 stops at Cococay.  I looked on the website and I don't see any mariner cruises that show a second day stop at Cococay.  

[Matt]

19 hours ago, jeffge said:

What are the exact dates of the effected cruises?  I would like to book one of these with 2 stops at Cococay.  I looked on the website and I don't see any mariner cruises that show a second day stop at Cococay.  

It's still a "work in progress" it seems.

[monctonguy]

Love the PR spin from Royal...lol..something really special about your cruise vacation...we are cancelling it for you!..lol

 

Curious to see what @Rants ends up getting from Royal and doing.

[WannaCruise]

Any thoughts on when the system will come back online and they'll share this wonderful news with us?

[twangster]

On 8/9/2019 at 8:13 AM, monctonguy said:

Always nice to see both sides of the story presented.....from what I have heard and seen..this is much more the norm....not to mention some are sold out 6 mths on advance.

Royal aint brining ppl here to sit in the beach and pay nothing...don't ever let anyone try to tell you otherwise.

$79 USD is the full price without discount.  Like any excursion pricing varies based on demand.  Like any excursion if you don't like it, don't buy it.  It isn't required.  Still compared to the $63 USD that the Aqua Park and slides cost in 2017, $16 more for a full water park for the full day isn't a bad deal.

With two stops at Perfect Day complete I've spent zero on excursions so far.   Thrill Water Park occupies less than 25% of CocoCay.  It's one small area.  if you aren't into it or can't afford it, don't buy it.  Pretty simple and no conspiracies involved.  

CocoCay was a sleepy little island before that many people found boring.  Perfect Day is popular because people love the additions.  Many people are gladly paying $79 for the water park because they want to, not because they have to.  

Of course Royal wants people to spend money on the water park but they have also added a lot of complimentary items and eliminated the $20-$25 umbrellas.  Umbrellas are free now.  They know full well return guests may buy excursions one time but not another.  

I've spent more than $79 USD on the zip line at Labadee.  I've spent more than that for jet skis at Labadee.  Often at Labadee I don't spend a dime.  CocoCay is no different.  Plus now your Voom plans works at CocoCay.  Hope they do the same with Labadee.

[WannaCruise]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

$79 USD is the full price without discount.  Like any excursion pricing varies based on demand.  Like any excursion if you don't like it, don't buy it.  It isn't required.  Still compared to the $63 USD that the Aqua Park and slides cost in 2017, $16 more for a full water park for the full day isn't a bad deal.

With two stops at Perfect Day complete I've spent zero on excursions so far.   Thrill Water Park occupies less than 25% of CocoCay.  It's one small area.  if you aren't into it or can't afford it, don't buy it.  Pretty simple and no conspiracies involved.  

CocoCay was a sleepy little island before that many people found boring.  Perfect Day is popular because people love the additions.  Many people are gladly paying $79 for the water park because they want to, not because they have to.  

Of course Royal wants people to spend money on the water park but they have also added a lot of complimentary items and eliminated the $20-$25 umbrellas.  Umbrellas are free now.  They know full well return guests may buy excursions one time but not another.  

I've spent more than $79 USD on the zip line at Labadee.  I've spent more than that for jet skis at Labadee.  Often at Labadee I don't spend a dime.  CocoCay is no different.  Plus now your Voom plans works at CocoCay.  Hope they do the same with Labadee.

The only thing that kills me is the price that they are charging for the waterpark....AND we don't have the option to purchase for our kids but just an entry pass for DH and I. Three of our cruises charge $105 CAD per person.  And even for 1 stop , multiply this by 4 and it's $420 for the day. That's a lot. I know it's optional, but it's a big pull for families.  If only they had "entry only" passes for cheaper as DH and I do not go on the waterslides.

[twangster]

22 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

The only thing that kills me is the price that they are charging for the waterpark....AND we don't have the option to purchase for our kids but just an entry pass for DH and I. Three of our cruises charge $105 CAD per person.  And even for 1 stop , multiply this by 4 and it's $420 for the day. That's a lot. I know it's optional, but it's a big pull for families.  If only they had "entry only" passes for cheaper as DH and I do not go on the waterslides.

Canadian exchange rate is a killer.  $50 CAD per person for one hour in the old Aqua Park and $35 CAD for the old slides would have been killer too. 

Maybe the CAD will get stronger before the cruise.  If it doesn't rest assured the rest of CocoCay and Perfect Day is beautiful, and included plus no more $30 CAD umbrellas.

Maybe a sale will come your way, keep checking.

[WannaCruise]

25 minutes ago, twangster said:

Canadian exchange rate is a killer.  $50 CAD per person for one hour in the old Aqua Park and $35 CAD for the old slides would have been killer too. 

Maybe the CAD will get stronger before the cruise.  If it doesn't rest assured the rest of CocoCay and Perfect Day is beautiful, and included plus no more $30 CAD umbrellas.

Maybe a sale will come your way, keep checking.

Touche on the Canadian dollar.  At least the big pool is included and our kids are just as excited for the pool as they are for the waterslides.  (We'll see as we have our first visit in 2 weeks). And true, at least the umbrellas are now included.  We have a few cruises that stop here so at $105 each, we may even skip the waterpark one time. Maybe we'll give the balloon ride a try one time.  Just wish they'd offer cheaper tickets for non-participants as that would make a big difference. It would be easy to do as just have different color writs bands.

P.S. - You've captured some amazing photos of CoCo Cay....which has made me even more excited about going there.

[monctonguy]

I'll be curious to see it for myself one of these days...but the bottom line is....Royal spent all that $ to make $...I NEVER heard of a ship stopping twice at coco cay ever in my life before this revamp...why would they....they didn't make money on it.

 

As for the if you don't want to use it, don't pay for it...even those that want to pay for it in some cases cant as its sold out or the pricing is unreasonable(price/demand be damned)......

 

But then again when the drink package is almost $1000 CAD for a 7 day cruise....it seems they maybe pricing themselves out of some business..at least from Canadians or those of us not rich enough to pay those prices..

 

 

[bhageerah]

On 8/8/2019 at 10:38 AM, twangster said:

 

If you just want a relaxing beach day without spending a dime that describes 90% of Perfect Day including a free fresh water pool and now Perfect Day is so much nicer than the old CocoCay.  If you want a water park, the price today has so much more value compared to the old Aqua park and inflatable slide of yesterday's CocoCay at the same price.

Plus no more tendering!  Come and go from the ship as much as you want.  

What's not to love about Perfect Day?

Extremely well said @twangster, I have to say that at first I jumped on the "bandwagon" and thought that the improvements would take away from the CocoCay experience, but it does not IMHO, I can say that I loved every minute of it and loved the upgrades.  I can say that if they had a 7 day cruise that just docked there for several days that I would GLADLY do it, just because it is relaxing, and there are still plenty of things to do and see, and best of all for the most part you will be able to do things on your own time and not in a rush. 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

I'll be curious to see it for myself one of these days...but the bottom line is....Royal spent all that $ to make $...I NEVER heard of a ship stopping twice at coco cay ever in my life before this revamp...why would they....they didn't make money on it.

As for the if you don't want to use it, don't pay for it...even those that want to pay for it in some cases cant as its sold out or the pricing is unreasonable(price/demand be damned)......

But then again when the drink package is almost $1000 CAD for a 7 day cruise....it seems they maybe pricing themselves out of some business..at least from Canadians or those of us not rich enough to pay those prices..

Don't forget the cost of cruise fare is also higher when expressed in $CAD.  There was a time in both nation's history during my lifetime when $CAD was valued higher than $USD.  It could happen again, then you'll be smiling at the cheap drink package price :) 

People are loving CocoCay.  People want to stop there.  It's helping to offset losses due to losing Cuba and a slowdown in the UK.  

Absolutely Royal is a business that will do what businesses do - make money.  Perfect Day is exceeding their own projections.  Combined with people want it and Royal is going to offer it to see how it goes.  I'm doing a double dip on Navigator but as a B2B.  The blog group cruise was a double dip to CocoCay.  Now lucky folks can get a double dip to CocoCay on one 4 night cruise.  

[Andrew72681]

On 8/8/2019 at 11:39 AM, SpeedNoodles said:

I'd love it if they did this to my Navigator sailing in Dec!

I wish they’d do this to my 3 day navigator sailing next week. We’re already not getting off in Nassau so it would be perfect. 

[Andrew72681]

3 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Touche on the Canadian dollar.  At least the big pool is included and our kids are just as excited for the pool as they are for the waterslides.  (We'll see as we have our first visit in 2 weeks). And true, at least the umbrellas are now included.  We have a few cruises that stop here so at $105 each, we may even skip the waterpark one time. Maybe we'll give the balloon ride a try one time.  Just wish they'd offer cheaper tickets for non-participants as that would make a big difference. It would be easy to do as just have different color writs bands.

P.S. - You've captured some amazing photos of CoCo Cay....which has made me even more excited about going there.

If the kids are small there’s also the captain Jill’s galleon with small slides. 

[Andrew72681]

43 minutes ago, twangster said:

Don't forget the cost of cruise fare is also higher when expressed in $CAD.  There was a time in both nation's history during my lifetime when $CAD was valued higher than $USD.  It could happen again, then you'll be smiling at the cheap drink package price 

I remember when I was younger and we went to a Canadian casino, my 200 dollar winnings quickly became about 160 in US dollars. 

[Rose City Cruiser]

Lots to do at Perfect Day at Coco Cay w/o spending a dime.  Love the new food selections and Oasis Lagoon is a huge hit.  With the Oasis Lagoon and the new water park, the beaches are pretty empty and quiet.  Can still have your relaxing beach time if you wish.