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CocoCay Stop cancelled and replaced with Miami


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I received my email yesterday for my January 24th sailing on Granduer. Instead of Coco Cay, we are doing Grand Bahamas. No email about the November 1st sailing on the Granduer. This itinerary already has a stop in Miami. I went to grad school there and lived in South Beach for years, so will say hi to friends and old colleagues. I am sorry for those who really don’t want Miami. I don’t blame you, it is def not a lazy beach day. You could grab a cab/Lyft/Uber and head to the beach. Stay south of fifth or go to mid Beach. Lincoln Rd runs perpendicular to the beach and is a pedestrian walk/mall with boutiques, lounges, cafes, eateries, art galleries, etc. I lived on the corner of Lincoln & Collins right on the beach across from the Ritz. Lincoln is much more local than touristy. Ocean Dr is a mecca for rip-off high prices. Walk along to see if you like, then at the end, between 16th & 17th, hang a left, walk west and do Lincoln. Collins & Washington (parallel to the ocean) has hotels, clubs, restaurants and stores. 

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Grand Bahama ??  Wow, I didn't think anyone except for Carnival went there.  That is, by far, the worst option (IMO) of any of the reroutes that I have heard.  Sorry to hear it.  At least you're ok with going to Miami.  Otherwise, it would be a double whammy.  It seems like you are one of those "glass half full" people so I'm sure you will just consider it an adventure and make the best of it.  It is a bit distressing, however, to find the Royal is using GB as a reroute for the Coco Cay debacle.

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I saw this mentioned somewhere so I looked into it.

It appears the reason why Vision is dropping CocoCay is because they double booked Enchantment and Vision to both visit CocoCay on the same day for the impacted itineraries. 

Enchantment is still going to CocoCay on these dates that Vision was supposed to.  

I've mapped out the itineraries of both ships for the months involved and in all cases Enchantment is still going.

Vision's 1/26/19 itinerary has always varied in that it was reversed with Key West first and CocoCay last.  Because this sailing is unique it doesn't overlap with Enchantment.  For this reason this one sailing is not impacted by the changes and CocoCay remains listed on this itinerary.

It's interesting they are blaming construction delays.  Perhaps the full pier won't be ready until the summer of 2019 and two ships can't berth.  The combined population of both ships roughly matches Anthem.  Anthem is still visiting in these months so its unlikely a capacity issue on the island itself.  I can only assume they must have projected that two ships could berth on these dates but now that is no longer the case.  Maybe that will will never be the case and they have scrapped any notion of two small ships visiting CocoCay at the same time.

One could question why did Enchantment win over Vision?  I can only assume since Enchantment is coming from a Florida home port they couldn't market an itinerary that included another Florida port of call.   Vision is home ported in New Orleans at the time so updating her itineraries to include another Florida port of call is more palatable or more marketable as they look to continue selling the ship.  

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19 minutes ago, twangster said:

It appears the reason why Vision is dropping CocoCay is because they double booked Enchantment and Vision to both visit CocoCay on the same day for the impacted itineraries. 

Enchantment is still going to CocoCay on these dates that Vision was supposed to.  

Very interesting.  It's entirely possible they thought the pier would be ready and thus, two ships could dock there.  The time frame for the pier being ready was (at last word) November, so the "construction delay" may not be that much of a farce if indeed the pier cannot support 2 ships yet.

It may also be related to the fact construction is limiting the available space and/or certain venues will not be available yet.

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15 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Grand Bahama ??  Wow, I didn't think anyone except for Carnival went there.  That is, by far, the worst option (IMO) of any of the reroutes that I have heard.  Sorry to hear it.  At least you're ok with going to Miami.  Otherwise, it would be a double whammy.  It seems like you are one of those "glass half full" people so I'm sure you will just consider it an adventure and make the best of it.  It is a bit distressing, however, to find the Royal is using GB as a reroute for the Coco Cay debacle.

Thank you! I am def a half three quarters full person, I hang on hope and any ray of positivity to make things brighter. Life is much easier that way, especially in my field. I have never been to GB, so looking at it as an opportunity to see a new port. Of course, my November cruise in the Grandeur is set to go to GB, Nassau and Coco Cay, so let’s see. Maybe it will be so different that the multiple visits will be good. I have been to Nassau plenty of times, but could be nice.

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Interesting. I am on the 24th Jan 2019 sailing on Grandeur and I haven't been notified of any change in itinerary - perhaps news takes longer to reach the UK! Please excuse my ignorance, but I know nothing about Grand Bahama. I could google it but I am pretty sure I can get more relevant information from people here, if anyone would mind sharing their knowledge and experience of this destination, please.

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19 hours ago, JohnUK said:

Interesting. I am on the 24th Jan 2019 sailing on Grandeur and I haven't been notified of any change in itinerary - perhaps news takes longer to reach the UK! Please excuse my ignorance, but I know nothing about Grand Bahama. I could google it but I am pretty sure I can get more relevant information from people here, if anyone would mind sharing their knowledge and experience of this destination, please.

In your case originally both Enchantment and Grandeur were set to share CocoCay on January 29, 2019.  In this case Grandeur was diverted to Grand Bahamas.  I have not visited Grand Bahamas and would have preferred a change to Grand Bahamas over Miami primarily for that reason. 

I don't think Grand Bahamas can accommodate larger or mega ships so it doesn't have the exposure that other ports like Nassau does.  It was popular for short weekend getaways from Florida but in 2016 it did get some damage from storms.  Some of the hotels used to service the weekend Florida crowds haven't been fully restored but that doesn't impact cruise ships visits directly.  I'd like to visit one day, until then hopefully someone else can comment on Grand Bahamas. 

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13 hours ago, Scatmanjack said:

 

Looking to see what Miami options they might offer...

Get a listing of CocoCay options under Miami...

Salt in the wound...

 

excursions.jpg

That would be a really long jet ski tour.... from Miami to CocoCay and back.  

I see the same effect.  CocoCay excursions for Miami.  This isn't the first time I've seen this when a port is substituted.  I suspect it will eventually be corrected and show excursion for Miami.  

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After having a few days for reflection...

 

What bugs me most about this 'substitution' is that they took the unique Royal Caribbean aspect out of this cruise...

I was born in Florida and have numerous relatives/friends there...

I can drive/fly to Miami...

I can fly/drive to Key West...

I can fly to Nassau...

but I can only visit CocoCay on a RCCL ship and they've taken that away...

 

My free beach day (with free snorkeling - have own gear) and use of my drink package in the sand has been taken away... 

Now we face...

Cab Ride to and from beach $$$

Chairs/Umbrellas $$$

Doubtful any underwater attractions/reef for snorkeling...

Drinks $$$

Food $$$

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1 hour ago, Scatmanjack said:

After having a few days for reflection...

What bugs me most about this 'substitution' is that they took the unique Royal Caribbean aspect out of this cruise...

My free beach day (with free snorkeling - have own gear) and use of my drink package in the sand has been taken away... 

I understand.  The only consolation I can offer is that without a pier CocoCay misses more than it hits.  My last two attempts on other ships have resulted in missed calls to CocoCay.  In this case I am finding out six months in advance instead of the day of like I'm used to.  In my case I have a miss history of 66%.

Suggest you contact Royal and politely make your thoughts known to them.  It won't likely change anything but who knows?  Maybe they will offer you something.

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11 minutes ago, rdrunner said:

As this is my first cruise, I was very disappointed to learn that Coco Cay had been cancelled.  I have never been to Miami either, so I hope to make the most of it. 

Welcome to the message boards!

Itinerary changes happen sometimes.  At the end of the day, any day on a cruise ship is better than a day on land.  

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Following now - was looking at 3-day cruises in February. Enchantment  out of Orlando/Canaveral on 2/22 still has Coco Cay on the itinerary. I was also looking at the Mariner sailing on 2/22 from Miami. Yesterday it was a 3-day with Coco Cay. Today it is a 2-day to Nassau and back.

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44 minutes ago, KJ1231 said:

Following now - was looking at 3-day cruises in February. Enchantment  out of Orlando/Canaveral on 2/22 still has Coco Cay on the itinerary. I was also looking at the Mariner sailing on 2/22 from Miami. Yesterday it was a 3-day with Coco Cay. Today it is a 2-day to Nassau and back.

Enchantment seems to win the conflict when they have had two Vision class ships both booked at Cococay.  

It's interesting they dropped a day on Mariner 2/22.  Makes me wonder if they charted her and needed an extra day for the charter.  

Mariner has two known charters right now:

   Sun 10, Mariner Of The Seas,  5 Night On The Blue Cruise, Miami / Miami

   Sun 24, Mariner Of The Seas, 5 Night Monsters Of Rock Cruise,  Miami / Miami

Given the charter on 2/24 I'm guessing it got an extra day by changing the 2/22 sailing down to 2 nights. 

http://monstersofrockcruise.com/

It's going to Labadee and Ocho Rios which isn't a common port for Royal to use in Jamaica.   

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  • 5 months later...
On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 12:19 PM, twangster said:

Enchantment seems to win the conflict when they have had two Vision class ships both booked at Cococay.  

It's interesting they dropped a day on Mariner 2/22.  Makes me wonder if they charted her and needed an extra day for the charter.  

Mariner has two known charters right now:

   Sun 10, Mariner Of The Seas,  5 Night On The Blue Cruise, Miami / Miami

   Sun 24, Mariner Of The Seas, 5 Night Monsters Of Rock Cruise,  Miami / Miami

Given the charter on 2/24 I'm guessing it got an extra day by changing the 2/22 sailing down to 2 nights. 

http://monstersofrockcruise.com/

It's going to Labadee and Ocho Rios which isn't a common port for Royal to use in Jamaica.   

FYI on Monsters of rock

We were supposed to be on Navigator but changed right before booking open to Mariner because Nav's first cruise out of dry-dock is Feb 24th....embarkation day...too risky.

Last year the powers that be canceled our day in Falmouth Jamaica due to the 'unrest' and we ended up on CoCo Cay and Labadie as our two ports. My guess is they wanted to avoid the same situation this year hence the stop at Ocho Rio.

 

@twangster do you go on the MORC??

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  • 2 months later...
On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 11:57 AM, Scatmanjack said:

After having a few days for reflection...

 

What bugs me most about this 'substitution' is that they took the unique Royal Caribbean aspect out of this cruise...

I was born in Florida and have numerous relatives/friends there...

I can drive/fly to Miami...

I can fly/drive to Key West...

I can fly to Nassau...

but I can only visit CocoCay on a RCCL ship and they've taken that away...

 

My free beach day (with free snorkeling - have own gear) and use of my drink package in the sand has been taken away... 

Now we face...

Cab Ride to and from beach $$$

Chairs/Umbrellas $$$

Doubtful any underwater attractions/reef for snorkeling...

Drinks $$$

Food $$$

We were just notified that our cruise is not going to CocoCay.  (Anthem 3/15/19 departing from Bayonne).  I am more than annoyed.  Why Miami?  It's college Spring Break and I have Middle School and HS kids, really?  RC dropped the ball on this one.  Terrible choice Royal Carribean!!!  Has anyone had any luck with any compensation for the loss of food, drink (we bought the drink package), chairs, umbrellas and everything else we lose by not going to CocoCay.  Bad, bad Royal Carribean.  Very upset customers!!!

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1 hour ago, KatieMac said:

Has anyone had any luck with any compensation for the loss of food, drink (we bought the drink package), chairs, umbrellas and everything else we lose by not going to CocoCay.

You can always stay onboard the ship while it is in Miami.  You will be able to have most of the ship to yourselves including the pool loungers and take advantage of the drink package.  Book the North Star while it is in Miami.  The view of the Miami skyline must be incredible from the North Star!

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2 hours ago, KatieMac said:

We were just notified that our cruise is not going to CocoCay.  ...  Bad, bad Royal Carribean.  Very upset customers!!!

I know it's disappointing.   I know because I was on an impacted itinerary that this thread was started about.  

The truth is:  It is out of their hands.  The construction company had delays which are very common in pier construction and in the islands.  It's unfortunate that it happened to your cruise and disappointing but these are the cards Royal has been played.  They are not in the business of upsetting guests and if this could be avoided they would.

Per the cruise contract Royal has the right to make changes such as this without compensation.  It's because of unknowns and things out of their control that they wrote the cruise contract to cover this sort of thing.  In this case the port fees and taxes for Miami are higher so they are losing money on this change.  

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