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Freedom of the Seas - Issues at Coco Cay


VanDyne

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We are currently sitting at the dock on Freedom of the Seas, and the Bahamian government has not allowed the ship to disembark. It has been two hours past the posted arrival time. The Norwegian ship at the next island over is also not docked. Not sure what the issue is as we were in Nassau yesterday. The ship has not communicated any COVID issues and stated that RC HQ is working with the Bahamian Tourism Agency.

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On Freedom right now and it’s 10:00 and for whatever reason the Bahamian officials haven’t given clearance for us to exit the ship to Coco Cay. Really disappointed since we haven’t been before. Also really odd since we were in Nassau just yesterday and everything seemed fine. 

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I just posted this as well on the news board. But yes this feels like it’s not going to happen which is frustrating and confusing since we were in populated Nassau yesterday while there’s just the Royal employees here at Cocp Cay. And unfortunately it doesn’t seem like they are ready for the shift … Top level Lime and Coconut isn’t open/staffed, Windjammer shows as closed for lunch, etc

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10 minutes ago, BrianB said:

Could it be the case counts on the ship? Or just a general temporary shut down of the Bahamas….

I dont think it’s counts on this ship mainly because everything seems so normal. I haven’t heard of anyone being sick for sure. I’ve tried to keep my eye on the tender for NCL. Doesn’t seem like it’s shuttling passengers 

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1 hour ago, DunwoodyDad said:

On Freedom right now and it’s 10:00 and for whatever reason the Bahamian officials haven’t given clearance for us to exit the ship to Coco Cay. Really disappointed since we haven’t been before. Also really odd since we were in Nassau just yesterday and everything seemed fine. 

Hi there. Were you cleared to go to Coco Cay? That would be a total bummer if that is not an option (says the party of 4

cruising next week).

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If the Bahamas does indeed decide to continue this policy of not allowing cruise ships to disembark on their "private" islands, I don't see how the cruise lines can continue.  That is the one thing keeping us from postponing our Jan 16th cruise.  I don't really care about the ports so much, but seven days on Harmony without anywhere to go?

No thanks.  

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30 minutes ago, AnchorsAway said:

Hi there. Were you cleared to go to Coco Cay? That would be a total bummer if that is not an option (says the party of 4

cruising next week).

Still sitting on the ship. Definitely a bummer for us since we’ve never been there and we can look out and see it. I mean, we are docked and everything. 

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10 minutes ago, DunwoodyDad said:

So the Bahamian government is pulling something here. It would be interesting if there are any ships in Nassau today and what is going on with them. 

Not good... there are at least 3 ships docked right now... it looks like there are 2 RC ships and Mariner is likely one of them...

https://www.portnassauwebcam.com/

image.thumb.png.62fccefc118b81a174a19ae2ad44573c.png

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3 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Not good... there are at least 3 ships docked right now...

https://www.portnassauwebcam.com/

image.thumb.png.62fccefc118b81a174a19ae2ad44573c.png

Are they being allowed to let passengers off?  If they are, that’s ridiculous. It would mean they are letting people into Nassau for the $, while stopping the lines from using the private islands where (I assume) they make far less. 

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4 minutes ago, DunwoodyDad said:

Are they being allowed to let passengers off?  If they are, that’s ridiculous. It would mean they are letting people into Nassau for the $, while stopping the lines from using the private islands where (I assume) they make far less. 

I can't tell from the camera feed... maybe someone on one of the 2 Royal ships will chime in...

 

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9 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I get Nassau or some other population center. But the isolated Coco Cay? A location that's 99% outdoors?

From another thread we see a port cam image of three ships in Nassau at the moment.  We're trying to get information whether guests were allowed to get off the ships there.

 

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37 minutes ago, Jill said:

From Facebook group: 

Mariner, Independence, and Scarlett Lady all in Nassau today with no issues. Passengers coming and going as normal.

So what's with all the denial of debarkation on the private islands?   We're getting (somewhat unconfirmed) reports that at least ships from 4 cruise lines are being denied entry.

EDIT:  Make that 3 cruise lines.  We're getting accounts that Disney guests have been allowed to get off the ship on Castaway Cay

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I am no where near someone with any authority on this issue.  But since I am booked on a future cruise that is going to Perfect Day.  I googled the Bahamas COVID travel and found their website.   Looks to me they are requiring testing and in the near future the testing needs to be PCR results.   Not sure if this is the answer to the current situation   Maybe someone smarter than me will have the official answers soon  

https://www.bahamas.com/travelupdates

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Big Red said:

Is it possible that the Island workers for COCO Cay may have contacted covid, and they may not have enough staff not infected to serve folks disembarking off the boat?

That wouldnt explain the other islands that are having the same issue..MSC and Disney from what I am hearing anecdotally.

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18 minutes ago, Old and Lazy said:

I am no where near someone with any authority on this issue.  But since I am booked on a future cruise that is going to Perfect Day.  I googled the Bahamas COVID travel and found their website.   Looks to me they are requiring testing and in the near future the testing needs to be PCR results.   Not sure if this is the answer to the current situation   Maybe someone smarter than me will have the official answers soon  

https://www.bahamas.com/travelupdates

 

 

 

They have not updated the cruise passenger part of that, been the same since Aug.  Perhaps it has changed, and they've not updated their website yet.

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Well, we managed to salvage the day. The captain announced that we received approval to disembark at approximately 1:30 pm. My kids had a blast at the water park and Coco Cay was in full swing (from my limited view at least). Royal Caribbean provided a 50% refund on a slew of excursion charges including thrill water park passes, cabanas, and other excursions.

All aboard was pushed to 5:30, but we couldn’t stay later due to sunset.

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