Ocean Cay and Yacht Club

[Into Cruising]

Initially there was a lot of hype on a separate section and beach for Yacht club.  Now there seems to be no reference to that on the web site.  Any insight?

[craig-n-carol]

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/20235-msc-cruises-to-offer-caribbean-paradise-at-ocean-cay-starting-nov-9.html says there will be a beach for Yacht Club. Like you said I couldn't find anything on MSC site now. The section on the west island on the map which said its north shore was the dedicated Yacht Club section has now been removed from the map. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by craig-n-carol
Sp.

[Annapolisr]

Has anyone booked the night sky watching?  I’d like to get a review if possible when the reserve opens.  Also the 2 hr snorkel event.  Thanks.

[Beamafar]

15 hours ago, craig-n-carol said:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/20235-msc-cruises-to-offer-caribbean-paradise-at-ocean-cay-starting-nov-9.html says there will be a beach for Yacht Club. Like you said I couldn't find anything on MSC site now. The section on the west island on the map which said its north shore was the dedicated Yacht Club section has now been removed from the map. 

 

Well-spotted!  Wonder why?  We're due to be the first to visit on Meraviglia in November;  it'll be interesting to see if the island is ready on time.  There were reports that some YC facilities would not be ready/available then. 

[Nashna]

We are due to sail on January 16th and it has been posted on our roll call that the YC section is not going to be completed until February 1st.   I also noticed that the YC section had been eliminated from the drawings.  Hopefully, MSC will offer some options for those of us who booked while they were still advertising that section.   At the very least, drinks and food should be included on the Island.  

[Hlitner]

There has been a rumor (for a few years) about a private beach/island called Ocean Cay.  I think it was supposed to open nearly two years ago, and then it was last year, and now it is later this year.  Does anyone want to give odds on it being opened by 2025 ...if ever?   We are booked on a cruise (YC) that is scheduled to call at Ocean Cay early next December.  On the other hand, we were booked on two Divina cruises that had been scheduled to call there in Nov and Dec of 2018!  We booked the 2019 cruise with the expectation that MSC would change the itinerary 3 or 4 times and that the Ocean Cay stop would eventually disappear from the itinerary....about the same way as the YC area has disappeared from the drawings.   

 

My question for fellow MSC fans is that "do you think that MSC has taken the term "Fantasy Island" to a new level?  Is Ocean Cay but a figment of MSC's imagination?  DW and I are big fans of Italy and have spend a lot of time driving all over that wonderful country.  In Italy it seems like many major (and minor) projects either never get finished or take a few decades longer then planned.  Many of us react to this by saying "Ahhhh, its Italy!"   We figure that the Ocean Cay project must be managed out of Italy and not the main office in Switzerland :).

 

Hank

P.S.  If you want to know anything about the Ocean Cay project just call the toll free MSC phone number.  ROFL!

[craig-n-carol]

1 hour ago, Nashna said:

We are due to sail on January 16th and it has been posted on our roll call that the YC section is not going to be completed until February 1st.   I also noticed that the YC section had been eliminated from the drawings.  Hopefully, MSC will offer some options for those of us who booked while they were still advertising that section.   At the very least, drinks and food should be included on the Island.  

 

Ha! We sail on 02/02/2020! I wonder if we’ll get to be the first sailing to enjoy the YC on the island. **not holding breath** :)

 

[marcoigna]

100% island will be opened for the 9th of November - but advised, not fully operational at the time.

 

i got a hold of a MSC brochure -  geared only at Meraviglia New York and Miami departures - under the section of the brochure where it shows Ocean Cay - it has a blurb about YC and Ocean Cay as follows:

 

as a distinguished MSC Yacht Club guest - the VIP treatment transcends from the ship to the shore - retreat to your private island destination with butler service - dine from a special a la carte menu with complimentary delivery to the clubhouse or while you bask in paradise in an exclusive cabana (a fee applies for the cabana)

[CruisingFox27]

MSC UK on Twitter today promoting the island and stating it will be available from Nov 19, with a link to booking excursions. I did reply to ask about the YC area.

[BermudaBound2014]

20 hours ago, marcoigna said:

100% island will be opened for the 9th of November - but advised, not fully operational at the time.

 

 

Care to share where you obtained this information? Better yet, want to put a C-note on it?  MSC has no way of knowing if that island will be open on time with variables such as Mother Nature, The Government of Bahama, and the pace of "island time." Nothing is 100%, especially in the Caribbean. 

 

The island may very well be open on November 9th, but a 100% guarantee is ridiculous. 

[BermudaBound2014]

8 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

MSC UK on Twitter today promoting the island and stating it will be available from Nov 19, with a link to booking excursions. I did reply to ask about the YC area.

 

Yet the post right above yours offers a 100% guarantee that the island will be open 10 days earlier. 

[CruisingFox27]

 

54 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

MSC UK on Twitter today promoting the island and stating it will be available from Nov 19, with a link to booking excursions. I did reply to ask about the YC area.

 

45 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Yet the post right above yours offers a 100% guarantee that the island will be open 10 days earlier. 

November 2019, not the 19th of November. A specific day wasn't mentioned.  No reply to my question on YC yet though.

Edited March 28, 2019 by CruisingFox27

[BermudaBound2014]

6 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

 

November 2019, not the 19th of November. A specific day wasn't mentioned.  No reply to my question on YC yet though.

 

Ahhh, got it! I apologize for my mistake. I do hope it opens on time but I'd never offer a 100% guarantee  :).

[CruisingFox27]

My error, I didn't write it as '19 or say 2019. It could yet be 2119!

 

Very early in the year for anyone to be confident given the delays caused by the weather in Sept 2017.

 

 

[cruiseguyinorl]

Not sure if everyone has seen the article below regarding the facilities and Ocean Cay in general. I have also emailed a contact regarding the concerns about the YC facilities. Hopefully will hear back soon. Not sure I agree with charging for the buffet on the island.
http://www.mscpressarea.com/en_GB/press-releases/2401

 

[js]

12 minutes ago, cruiseguyinorl said:

Not sure if everyone has seen the article below regarding the facilities and Ocean Cay in general. I have also emailed a contact regarding the concerns about the YC facilities. Hopefully will hear back soon. Not sure I agree with charging for the buffet on the island.
http://www.mscpressarea.com/en_GB/press-releases/2401

 

 

Thank you for your helpful posts. Did I miss any reference to YC in the article?

 

Thank you. 

[cruiseguyinorl]

Don't think it really addresses it in that press release. I had posted this in another thread specifically regarding YC cabanas:

This from the Manager of Ocean Cay Operations:

Here are the facts:

YC Cabanas will NOT be available until Feb 2020
We WILL assign and reserve some of the regular cabanas to our YC guests
YC Cabanas will never be online as our system does not know how to differentiate between regular and YC guests to book them.
Butler/Concierge will contact guests onboard to offer cabanas (we are working on a system that concierge can call guests prior to cruise to book cabanas)

 

[Beamafar]

I wonder if they'll substitute another POC for it if it's not ready on time (and which would it be - Nassau?)  🤔  I know that those who sail the Caribbean regularly would not like to see that, but I would prefer it to a day at sea.  I haven't been so would love to see what's to hate about the place LOL.  Those who'd prefer a day at sea could just stay onboard the ship, anyway.  🙂

[ashank1m]

OC would be nice change then seeing Bahamas again.  Then it was the hurricane that literally wipe the OC off the map and they had to literally remake the island while other islands with people living competing for hurricane repair.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8975 has same news about Nov 2019 opening.  I do see Meraviglia itinerary includes OC for now.

13	Sat, Nov 09, 2019	Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas	9:00 AM	11:00 PM	Docked
14	Sun, Nov 10, 2019	Miami, Florida	7:00 AM	-	Docked

 

[Gail L.]

I have a YC cabana booked for our stop there November 9th.  It was listed on my excursion list and specifically said Yacht Club in the description.  It was priced higher than the options without YC in the description.  My TA booked it for us so I will be curious what they actually 'do' with us and what I am actually charged.  

 

[hamrag]

18 hours ago, Beamafar said:

I wonder if they'll substitute another POC for it if it's not ready on time (and which would it be - Nassau?)  🤔  I know that those who sail the Caribbean regularly would not like to see that, but I would prefer it to a day at sea.  I haven't been so would love to see what's to hate about the place LOL.  Those who'd prefer a day at sea could just stay onboard the ship, anyway.  🙂

 

Yes, it would make absolute sense to go and draw your own conclusions. Even my DW, who ALWAYS wants to go off the ship no matter the port said last time that we would stay on board if we ever had the misfortune to port in Nassau again!

 

Best advice from DW is to go off mid-morning....that way you can relax over breakfast, and will def be back on-board in good time for a nice YC restaurant lunch and then top pool-deck for the afternoon.

[Beamafar]

I'm not expecting OC to be ready for our sailing, G.  If it is, it'll be a welcome bonus (but will be disappointed that the YC area won't be ready, either way  🙁)  Please thank DW for her sage advice.  🙂

[CruisingFox27]

19 hours ago, Beamafar said:

I wonder if they'll substitute another POC for it if it's not ready on time (and which would it be - Nassau?)  🤔  I know that those who sail the Caribbean regularly would not like to see that, but I would prefer it to a day at sea.  I haven't been so would love to see what's to hate about the place LOL.  Those who'd prefer a day at sea could just stay onboard the ship, anyway.  🙂

 

We didn't hate it or see why you would but then it's a Caribbean Island, there's sunshine and very different to home, it was a new port for us so we wanted to go. We had a mooch around town and a taxi tour of the island. Would I want to repeatedly stop there, probably not, no. Although, I'd apply that to a few islands.  I certainly preferred it to Jamaica as I didn't feel comfortable there.

[Beamafar]

Yeah ... we've been to the Caribbean 3 times now and  there certainly are ports that we'd happily give a miss second or third time 'round.  It's the number and level of negative comments around Nassau that heighten the intrigue and wish to see it. Unfortunately we never made it to Jamaica (DH went on holiday there once and would concur with you - he experienced how unsafe it was with an incident involving a friend of his).

[Beamafar]

MSC has a YouTube video about Ocean Cay;  here's a link (I don't know how to embed it):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpWRothXHKU

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Mark (Cruisers6).

Edited March 30, 2019 by Beamafar