We are back! The Princess and I have just returned from our three-day weekend
cruise on the newly amplified Navigator of the Seas. While the ship is amazing, we
primarily booked this last-minute getaway to experience firsthand the
brand-new Perfect Day at CocoCay. Having read the reviews and watched the videos,
we couldn't wait any longer to visit the island. Well, did it live up to our
expectations? I'm DB from EatSleepCruise.com, and we break down our entire
day exploring the island in our honest review of Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Before even getting to the island, you can review everything there is to do at
perfect day CocoCay on the Royal Caribbean's cruise planner. This makes
planning your trip easier and allows you to pre-book excursions. For this trip, we
wanted to experience the two most thrilling features at the new perfect
day at CocoCay. Luckily, we scored an amazing 30% off
deal for the combo ticket of the zipline and full-day access to the thrill waterpark.
In fact, we ended up paying just ten dollars more than the cost of the
full-day waterpark pass. Pricing for these activities varies by sailing and
ship, so if you are looking to purchase a big ticket item like thrill waterpark
tickets or even a Cabana, we suggest you do it as early as
possible. Of course, if you happen to find a lower price, you can always contact the
cruise line to get an adjustment. Say goodbye to tendering. The pier at
perfect day at CocoCay has been open for several months now, and cruisers can
utilize it as a direct pathway to the island and all its attractions. Docking
on Navigator of the Seas appeared seamless as the ship turned around and
slowly edged herself towards the pier. The ship was docked for about an hour
before we were officially cleared and allowed down to the gangway.
This gives the staff time to unload supplies. So, we were there staring at the
beautiful island and were unable to explore! The island's facade is truly
breathtaking. Now, some critics may lambaste the new
entrance as being a bit theme park like in design. For us, the large sign, water
geyser feature, and colorful appearance were welcoming. Once off the ship,
we found maneuvering around the island to be easy with plenty of new pathways,
both paved and unpaved that were well designed and basically made a large
circle around all the attractions and different sections of perfect day at
CocoCay. Royal Caribbean also provides you with a map as well as signage around the
island so it's very easy to get around. Once the announcement was made at 8 a.m.
that we could enter the island, we quickly headed down to the gangway. If
you know us, this was our cue to be among the first off the ship. Racing, I mean
walking steadily, towards perfect day CocoCay down the pier, we were simply
amazed. We had visited CocoCay just a year ago, and the transformation is truly
mind-blowing. Of all the areas on the island, the beaches got the least amount
of updates and changes. After all, these beaches were pretty ideal in the first
place. This new area is referred to as chill island and is essentially the main
area of what used to be the old CocoCay. Now if you've visited the island before,
you'll recognize the setup as it remains relatively intact. There are some new
pathways and dining facilities here that have been added for convenience. As you
cross the bridge into chill island, you may recognize some of the older buildings and
areas the newly named chill beach appears to have received some cosmetic work
giving it a much smoother and attractive coastline along with some new beach
loungers and umbrellas. As you continue to follow the shoreline, you'll come
across familiar areas including the chill cabanas. There's also some new
dining facilities like the massive chill grill. Existing buildings like the straw
market and the wacky seagull and shore excursion's hut
don't appear to have changed that much. As you continue towards South Beach,
there's a new sports area including a beach volleyball court, several lawn
games, and a small basketball court with some laid-back seating for those who
want to enjoy some time the sun away from the beach.
Further down the coastline, you'll find the floating bar on South Beach which
appears mainly unaltered at the current time. These beaches just seem to go on
forever, and with only one ship in port, the island felt relatively uninhabited
which of course is a very good thing. The beaches were also very clean and
provided ample shade with the addition of new umbrellas as well as plenty of palm
trees and even a hammock area for those who wanted to just lie back and enjoy
the sea breezes. Now at the end of this year, part of this area will be home to
the new Coco Beach Club featuring overwater cabanas and an exclusive
restaurant. We didn't see any construction or signs of these new
structures yet, but knowing Royal Caribbean, they'll go up pretty soon. New
to the island is the centrally located Harbor Beach. In fact, this is where the
tenders used to dock. Now, this protected beach area is perfect
for kids and provides plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas as well. It's also
ideally located between several areas of the island including chill island, the
Oasis lagoon pool, and the thrill waterpark. To ensure individuals stay on the island as
long as possible, perfect day at CocoCay has seen some
serious improvement in the food and beverage program on the island. For us,
this was a very welcomed and tasty update as we always found the old barbecue
lunch to be a bit stale. The island has several new snack shacks that are exactly the
type of venue that we've been looking for on a cruise ship's private island. A
fantastic alternative the buffet, these strategically placed venues serve a
limited menu of hot and fresh light bites. Among our samplings were the
shack burger, the crispy chicken sandwich, fries, mozzarella sticks, and funnel cake.
We might have gone a little overboard, but everything we tasted was hot and quite
good. But of course, if you're looking for more diverse options, there are now two
huge dining areas to satisfy your appetite. the chill grill and skipper's
grill are both buffet style venues that offer a diverse selection of items. Both venues have pretty standard offerings like hamburgers, hot dogs,
and grilled chicken, but they've truly expanded the menu to now have a huge
salad bar, a custom taco stand, and a sandwich section that had paninis
like steak sandwiches and Cuban sandwiches. They've also extended the
hours the dining facilities are open. During our trip, the buffet was open from
11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This is a marked improvement as previously lunch was only
served for approximately a two hour window. The snack shacks are actually
open even an extra hour if you're still hungry later in the day. The island bars
are a mix of classic favorites and a few new additions. Among the biggest
additions is the bar at the Oasis Lagoon. In fact, the whole Oasis Lagoon area is an
expansive addition to the island featuring the Caribbean's largest
freshwater pool, plenty of loungers, music with a DJ, a swim-up bar, and a very
lively crowd. Let's just say it was the party central of the island. The massive
bar here is the central location. For those who want to relax on land, one side of
the Oasis Lagoon bar does have tables with umbrellas. The other big addition to
the bar lineup at perfect day at CocoCay is Captain Jack's. You cannot miss this
nautically themed bar as soon as you cross over into the island from the pier.
Offering a few different cocktails than the other bars on the island, the drinks
here are also are included in the deluxe beverage package. Unfortunately, the wings
and fries are extra money even if you have the unlimited dining package. We
enjoy our beach bum and watermelon 'rita drinks while chilling on the bar swings.
This location also has some tabletop games and unique seating which makes it
a great location to escape the sun for a while. Over on chill island, there are
still plenty of other bar options. These include some classics like Coconut
Willie's, the Wacky Seagull, and of course its little brother the Wacky Seagull Jr.
There's also the floating bar which is just a short walk in water from the
coastline. Now, all these bars offer a pretty
typical menu of cocktails, beers, and wines.
Unfortunately, there's no bar located in the thrill waterpark. For our first
trip to perfect day at CocoCay, we decided to test out the thrill waterpark,
and we're very glad we did. The park features two towers. The splash summit is
the family tower. It's home to some of the tamer but still
fun slides. These include the mat racers, the tube slide, and the slingshot
boomerang slide. Of course, we rode all of these slides and waited about 10
to 30 minutes for each ride. Of all the slides, we liked the slingshot the best.
Now, the more adventurous slides are located in Daredevils tower. Here is where
you will find the tallest slide in North America. At over a hundred and thirty
feet, it's one thrilling punch. This waterslide is unlike anything you'll
find at a typical waterpark. In addition, the tower has a drop slide and other fast -paced slides including mix of digital lighting and special effects. I felt
like a kid all over again running back up to the stairs to ride the slides
again and again. Luckily, I was not the only grown-up making these trips. Now the
line for the devil's peak can get quite long midday with wait times close to an
hour with only one ship in port; though, we did find the lines to be much smaller
early in the morning and later in the afternoon. We also did not encounter much
waiting for any of the other slides in this tower.
All the slides were fun and very fast but the Devil's Peak of course took
the prize for the best slide in the entire park, and no matter the wait it's
well worth the ride. Of course, there's some other additions to the thrill waterpark
including a wave pool that mimics the motion of the ocean as well as an
adventure pool for younger ones with different challenges that test balance
and coordination. Of course, this looks like a lot of fun, but let's just say the
lifeguards weren't letting me into the pool. We had no issues finding
loungers with umbrellas, but we did arrive at the park pretty early. There is
a lot of seating but some of it isn't in the shade. So if you want to make sure
you get the best seat in the house, definitely enter the waterpark early. A
nice touch is that there's an area of free locker rentals so you can secure
your items while enjoying the rides without any worries or having any
additional cost. Now as I mentioned, we took advantage of an amazing deal on the
cruise planner, and we booked the water park and zipline combo. You're required to
select an exact time. We chose a morning time slot to give us the rest of the day
to enjoy the waterpark and the rest of the island. While the zip
lines were fun, they were not as exciting as the Dragon's Breath flight line on
Labadee, Haiti, one of Royal Caribbean's other private islands. Now granted the
cost for the zip lines on perfect day at CocoCay, which includes three separate
runs, is a fraction of the cost for one ride on the other zip line.
Besides the thrill waterpark and zipline, there is the Up, Up and Away hot-air
balloon, the other main attraction on perfect day
at CocoCay. While we do not get to experience it during this trip, we certainly
have plans to do so on our future visit. We cannot overstate how much fun we both
had at perfect day at CocoCay. The new island design is beautiful and
well-executed. The endless options allow travelers with different tastes to find a
little slice of their own paradise. Those looking for a chic pool party
atmosphere will love the Oasis lagoon. It's something right out of a Miami or
Las Vegas resort. If you prefer a more peaceful day at the beach, chill island
is where you'll want to be. With the sea of lounge chairs and nearby dining and
drinking facilities, you can find an ideal piece of real estate for relaxing.
Now, if you're looking for something in between that'll probably put you at the
seat of Harbor Beach. This location puts you right between chill island and the
Oasis Lagoon so you can bounce around between both areas. There's also
South Beach which offers more beachfront loungers located near the sports area and
the floating bar. The thrill water park is a full-day attraction itself. For the
price we paid, which was $44.95, we spent hours enjoying the amenities. Your key
card works as your admission to the park, so exiting and returning throughout the
day was easy, and we had no hassles. Both the Princess and I had such a fabulous
time during our first visit to perfect day at CocoCay that we've already booked
a second cruise returning to the island later this summer! And there you have it,
that's our honest review of perfect day at CocoCay. But of course, we'd love to
hear from you. Have you visited the island? Let us know your review and your
thoughts of perfect day at CocoCay in the comment section below.
I'm DB from EatSleepCruise.com, and if you enjoyed this video, we'd really
appreciate it if you gave it a big thumbs up!
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