(5:20 p.m. EDT) — As cruise ships get back again up and running in North The usa, Royal Caribbean has a solution weapon that is already putting it ahead of the opposition: Ideal Day at CocoCay, its personal island.
The vacation spot in The Bahamas acquired a substantial glow up in slide 2019 when Royal Caribbean invested $250 million into creating it a complete-out vacation resort, entire with a significant waterpark that features North America’s tallest water slide, the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean, various eateries and beaches, and h2o excursions.
The addition of the upscale Coco Beach front Club in the early times of 2020 ups the ante even more. The resort-inside-a-vacation resort carries a working day pass fee, and includes an elevated lunch, where by lobster and filet mignon are on the menu, as nicely as a different infinity pool, beach chairs and a calming ambiance. (Large spenders can splash out for private over-the-h2o non-public cabanas).
On Royal Caribbean’s sailings from Nassau, Adventure of the Seas spends two times at Fantastic Working day at CocoCay. While this could possibly audio repetitive at to start with look, we located that it created the expertise much a lot more soothing. There is no way that you can see and do every thing on CocoCay in just one day with far more time, you can genuinely divide up your hours and chill out. You will not need pack everything in and operate around aimlessly. (Notably if a Bahamian rain shower takes place, which is rather frequent.)
In this article are some of our observations from two days at Perfect Day at CocoCay:
Arrive Now For Much less Crowds, No Traces
With cruising just restarting in North The us, your non-public island encounter genuinely feels like a non-public island. This initial sailing only experienced 1,066 travellers onboard, and on an island that is designed to tackle two Oasis-course ships at complete capacity, you actually have a large amount of room to spread out.
The Thrill Waterpark experienced totally no lines for the entire two days we ended up there. We could operate on and off the waterslides as we noticed match, and components of the park — specially individuals that catered to young children these types of as Splashaway Bay, ended up absolutely vacant. It felt like there ended up additional personnel than people at times.
Similarly, there is no need to group at the totally free dining venues on the island. When not all of the buffet places ended up totally open up, there was much more than enough selection. Even though you happen to be now served all your foods at the buffet, the reduced ability suggests that you usually are not waiting around, at all, for anything at all to take in.
A single idea: In these early days, it may possibly not make as substantially sense to splash out for distinctive cabanas and seaside chairs, unless you are in the temper to splurge or just want to come to feel fancy (as we are going to explain down below at the Coco Beach front Club). With so several men and women on the island, you will have your preference of seashore loungers at most of the totally free venues.
Excellent Working day at CocoCay COVID-19 Protocols
Just as they have on their ships, Royal Caribbean has labored hard to make Perfect Day at CocoCay experience as a lot as it did just before the pandemic. And for the most part, it seems to have succeeded.
The personnel on the island, most of whom dwell onsite, are all entirely vaccinated. Travellers can go off the ship devoid of masks, which is incredibly freeing in the very hot Bahamian sun. The staff members do have on masks, even so, as an extra precaution.
You will discover loads of social distancing reminders, as well as hand sanitizer, when you stroll close to the island. Staff members customers inspired us to sanitize at many details of our day — when you ascend the stairs of the drinking water slides, when you enter any buffet or bar, when you pick up any interior tubes or mats for sliding and when you head out to your cabana.
Another matter to enjoy when you decide on up any tubes, mats or swimming vests for the little ones — the staff has put the sanitized products on just one facet of a peg board. Select these, as opposed to the other facet, where you set your points following you’ve got utilized them.
At the Oasis Lagoon, the swim-up bar is open up, while you might be also encouraged to depart space amongst your fellow cruisers. All over again, when capacity is so limited, that is not hard to do.
Dividing Your Time More than Two Times
With the two days, we break up our time about up into two themes. On the 1st working day, we concentrated on adrenaline at the Thrill Waterpark, as properly as relaxing with other travellers all-around the Oasis Lagoon. We uncovered this strategy permitted us to approach far better, and sense like we obtained the most out of the expertise.
It can be a prolonged 14 stories climb to Daredevil’s Peak waterslide, the tallest in North America. This slide goes fast, so it truly is the most effective just one for speed demons. We basically uncovered that we most well-liked the Slingshot, a two-human being raft experience with a large fall, more than at Splash Summit. This spot, which has its very own cabanas, looks friendlier and a lot more chill than the chairs near the large Daredevil’s Peak.
We did some procuring and ate a buffet lunch on our to start with day at the island. The South Seashore spot of the island was not open up on our go to, due to lowered capacity. Simply because our initial day was about fun in the solar, we walked around really a little bit to see if we could locate adequate other travellers to have that beach occasion vibe — for individuals who appreciate that form of environment, Best Day can seem to be quiet when just a single smaller ship is in port.
We uncovered those people seaside club vibes at Oasis Lagoon soon after lunch. The huge pool is well known for a purpose — other than the swim-up bar, it provides cozy loungers both of those all-around the drinking water so you can examine out the scene and within just the water. A DJ was spinning dance tunes as the afternoon wore on, and we saw joyful cruisers line dancing to the Wobble, the Cupid Shuffle and other favorites in and out of the water. It felt pre-pandemic, with terrific pleased power.
We shut out Working day 1 sitting down on the rope swing chairs, a Coco Loco in hand, at Captain Jack’s, listening to a singer address Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffet and other Caribbean favorites.
Day 2: Coco Seashore Club
The ship pulled away from Great Day at CocoCay shortly immediately after 5 p.m. Even though the island is wired for lights and might at some point host late nights, it normally takes the employees hrs just to put every thing back again in position for the future working day, we ended up informed by Royal Caribbean’s Senior Vice President of Hotel Functions Mark Tamis.
Coco Seashore Club opened in early 2020, ideal in advance of the pandemic commenced, so only a several cruisers have professional the upscale resort in whole. You can inform the difference in vibe as soon as you get there. Although Oasis Lagoon was loud, with Pitbull-dance new music electricity, Coco Beach front Club is certainly additional chill and grownup.
Like the rest of Excellent Working day at CocoCay, beverages are not involved in your Coco Beach Club go. (We located that most people had a consume or refreshment offer, which does increase to Ideal Day and the Beach Club.) The club has its individual cocktail menu, with decidedly additional refined alternatives — despite the fact that you can nonetheless get that Coco Loco if you want!
The menu for lunch is worth the value of admission alone. The top quality feels like what you would get at a specialty restaurant on the ship, and it is really intended that way, we ended up explained to by Lincoln D’Souza, Royal Caribbean’s international vice president for culinary, eating and beverage.
The starters arrive in individual bento bins, entire of finger snacks these kinds of as hummus, baba ganoush, shrimp cocktail and ceviche. These packing containers are massive we recognized swiftly that we should have skipped breakfast that morning.
You can nevertheless get a burger, if you want one, as a lunch entree. But why quit there, when you can get the island’s signature Coco Lobster Sandwich? The lobster is crusted with coconut and served with an avocado relish and pineapple salsa, and it’s just one of the most delightful matters I’ve eaten in the Caribbean. The truffle fries that arrived with it had been correctly seasoned, crispy and salty like you want them. (D’Souza claims that he is a fry snob.)
Seasoning was a theme throughout the menu, from the filet mignon to the garlic tiger prawns. You can even get Bahamian lobster (or additional than one particular — you can get as several entrees as you want). For individuals who you should not like seafood, here is a solution menu suggestion — you can get a chicken edition of the lobster sandwich, which will come out just as crispy as the unique.
Desserts are another spotlight, so you will want to conserve place. The rum cake has a lot of liquor in it, so it is absolutely a lot more for the grownups (except if, as D’Souza said, you want your youngsters to just take a nap). The brownie is indulgent but we had been just as satisfied with the mango sorbet.
Immediately after all this meals, we retreated to our cabana to rest things off. (Cabana friends can have the overall menu delivered to their hideaway, with the meals biked out by workers over the picket walkways.) The cabanas have a shaded region for sitting, a smaller slide into the h2o, a hammock at water’s edge, a whole-sized desk for eating and various loungers. You can find a lifeguard out near the cabanas, so you really feel safe and sound swimming and floating in the region.
We lastly toddled back to the ship around 4 p.m. that next day, solar-drunk and happy with not just one particular, but two Great Times. The only matter we didn’t do was take the Up, Up and Absent incredibly hot air balloon ride. It really is heavily weather dependent, and the winds just didn’t cooperate.
Oh perfectly. It just means I need to have another Fantastic Day.
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