Royal Caribbean Bahamas/Cozumel Trip

[Nick]

General Information/Observations

Itinerary: 7-Night Bahamas (Nassau + Freeport) & Cozumel w/2 Days at Perfect Day Private Island
Ship: Adventure of the Seas
Sailing from: Port of Nassau
Family trip, 4 people

Required to fly to and sail out of Nassau currently:

• Bahamas Health Visa ($50/person - the ship compensated everyone for this charge)
• Negative COVID-19 Test (PCR) within three days of sailing
• Passport

We booked the sailing back in late June or so and while it took jumping through a lot of hoops to get there, it was well worth it. The ship has been sailing since June 12th with all cruisers 12+ vaccinated, along with all cruise staff. We booked this cruise back when things were going a bit smoother with COVID, and even considered cancelling in the weeks leading up with the Delta variant ramping up, but we felt pretty good with all of the precautions that were taking place both on the ship and even to board the ship in general, especially since cruises out of Florida can't mandate vaccinations for cruises currently.

Our sailing was actually the first sailing to require masks indoors since the ship started sailing again. For all August sailings, they took an extra precaution even with everyone taking COVID tests and needing to be vaccinated if 12+ because of the Delta variant and the spread through younger kids. There were some dedicated "Vaccinated Areas" - mostly the Casino, bars, lounges, etc. Some events were for Vaccinated guests only, meaning masks weren't needed. In the common areas and during events that did need masks, the Royal Caribbean staff was on top of making sure people kept masks on unless eating or drinking while inside.

The cruise had slightly over 1,000 passengers on-board according to the Cruise Director for a ship that can carry a max of around 3880, so we were just north of 25% capacity and you could totally feel it. Not sure how many of you guys have been on a cruise before, but if you have, you know what it's generally like on Embarkation day: Get to the port, check-in, walk on from the gangway, then once on-board your room still isn't ready and you have to do a muster drill. Maybe you'll get a bite to eat at a packed buffet and all the elevators will be jammed.

Literally none of that is what happened on this cruise. We had a very specific check-in time at a hotel near the port. We had to show them our passports, health visa, and negative COVID test results to prove we could go on the ship, then take a taxi to the port and just walk walk on straight from the port since we were in Nassau for departure. Once on the ship, everything was a breeze - we basically had the place to ourselves. No waiting in lines for anything anywhere. Some main things that were different were that there was someone manning the Coke Freestyle machines to refill soda for you (which I actually liked as it made sure that nothing ever ran out without the knowing) and the buffet was changed so that they served you what you asked for from the buffet instead of you grabbing it yourself. Muster Drills are done by watching a video on the TV and then going down to get a sticker on your room key. Took about a minute as opposed to 15-20.

It was such a nice way to cruise and honestly cruising at full capacity is going to take some getting used to again. That's all I can really think of in terms of general types of things. I'll have at least a few more posts talking about the on-board entertainment, the food, and also a water park report from Perfect Day at Coco Cay, including the Daredevil's Peak waterslide, which is the tallest waterslide in North America and hauls all sorts of ass.

 

[Scott W.]

It's kind of fascinating reading people's trip reports in a covid world.

By the time you get past all the testing, the fear and uncertainity, it looks like everybody is having a great time. Smaller crowds and often a drop in prices.

I have a feeling that many of the people going on trips now, will have a once in a life time trip.

 

[Nick]

It's kind of fascinating reading people's trip reports in a covid world.

By the time you get past all the testing, the fear and uncertainity, it looks like everybody is having a great time. Smaller crowds and often a drop in prices.

I have a feeling that many of the people going on trips now, will have a once in a life time trip.

Yeah, this is totally the case for me. The fear for me though wasn't necessarily about actually contracting COVID as much considering all of the steps that I and the cruise line were taking to make it as safe as possible. I was a bit more worried about flying all the way to Nassau and then for whatever reason them saying we couldn’t board the ship. After that stress was gone, it truly was a very unique vacation that may be something I never get to replicate.

Later tonight I’ll have another post.

 

[JoeCamel]

Yeah, this is totally the case for me. The fear for me though wasn't necessarily about actually contracting COVID as much considering all of the steps that I and the cruise line were taking to make it as safe as possible. I was a bit more worried about flying all the way to Nassau and then for whatever reason them saying we couldn’t board the ship. After that stress was gone, it truly was a very unique vacation that may be something I never get to replicate.

Later tonight I’ll have another post.

Were there port calls? Did you disembark?

 

[Nick]

Were there port calls? Did you disembark?

Day 1: Embark from Nassau
Day 2: Freeport - got off to go to a private beach.
Day 3 & 4: Coco Cay private island - got off both days.
Day 6: Cozumel - stayed on ship.

We wore masks when off the ship in Nassau and Freeport, in Coco Cay we were a little more relaxed since it was only our ship that was on the island (and quite frankly pretty empty).

 

[Nick]

Freeport
Day 2 was a stop at Freeport, which was my first time stopping at Freeport. We were up early for all the ports to get breakfast on the ships before getting off. It's definitely more of an industrial port, but we did find a great spot on the island, essentially by accident. We were told there was a spot on the island where we could swim with pigs, so we figured that would be a fun thing to do. We ended up at the beach pictured below, which is potentially my favorite beach i've ever been too - it was called Dead Man's Reef. The water was extremely warm, there was very few people here, and the water didn't get deep really at all (we were able to be on our knees and still have heads above water wayyyy out). Once you got past a certain point though, it dropped off about 100 feet, which is where a few people were snorkeling.

We stayed there for about 3 hours and then went back to the ship for lunch. Everything off the ship tourism wise was absolutely dead. The Señor Frog's right off of the ship was still closed from the pandemic and not much else was open either. One thing I forgot to mention that's a major change is that the Windjammer buffet was only open for Breakfast and Lunch, meaning that if you missed your MyTime Dining time in the Sapphire Dining Room, your only choices for dinner that night would've been to grab Pizza/sandwiches at the 24 hour food location or to book a reservation at one of the upcharge restaurants. I'll probably go further into this in a different post.

Perfect Day at Coco Cay - Chill Island
Days 3 and 4 were spent at Royal Caribbean's private Island, Coco Cay. I've been here once before, but it was before the island got a MAJOR refurbishment and additions that opened in 2019, including the Water Park pictured below. I compare the island a bit to a theme park as it's an extremely controlled environment, and has two distinct areas - Thrill Waterpark and then a more relaxed areas with places to visit all throughout. We spent our first day in the Chill Island section of the island and mostly relaxed all day. There are many different areas here, including a harbour (which was extremely hot if not in the water), a pool with swim up pool bar and tables and seating in the pool. Things like this are actually pretty common in the Bahamas. There is also a zipline on the island and a balloon much like the one at Disney Springs. The zipline cost a lot and from what I heard, it was only three lines, so i'd say it's not worth it, especially as someone whose been on a few really good ones in Hawaii and Tennessee.

Here's a map of what is offered at the private island:

After having lunch at one of the locations on the island (I believe we ate at a place called Skipper's Grill) and played a few beachside games and a pickup game of basketball, we found a spot near the actual beach on the island (most of the other stuff is more in the middle of the island, so it's hotter) and it was glorious. The breeze here was amazing and I actually fell asleep for a bit while laying out. There were jelly fish in the waters though as my sister did get stung and we saw someone else asking what to do about getting stung not long after. Seagulls also seemed to have really taken over this island and a ravenous and unafraid.

I'll have a post exclusively on Thrill Waterpark next. I was originally going to include it here, but I just have too much to say about the waterpark on it's own.

 

[Nick]

Perfect Day at Coco Cay - Thrill Waterpark
For our final day at Coco Cay, we ponied up the money to go to their water park on the island. It was overpriced to be sure, although it was less than the normal cost of the Atlantis Paradise Island. The cost was roughly $99/person whereas Atlantis is normally around $120. I'd argue both Volcano Bay and the Disney water parks are better overall experiences, but they can charge more here simply because there's no competition and it's a novelty thing to do.

That all said, I had a great time at the water park and am glad I went now instead of during a normal time when the place is packed. The park was for all intents and purposes pretty empty, sort of like a January day at VB. I asked a few of the workers what the park is normally like with crowds pre-COVID and they said it normally takes an entire day to do the whole park as there's normally two ships in port at the same time and it's normally hard to find a chair. We had no issues with any of that and the only thing keeping us from doing the rides as many times as we wanted was the fact that we had to clime the stairs so freakin high that it tires you out after awhile.

The marquee attraction here is Daredevil's Peak, which is claimed to be the tallest waterslide in North America at 135 feet. For a waterslide, it's a fairly long slide as this isn't a drop slide, but a body slide that you build up some serious speed on and WOW does it haul ass. Because of the length of the slide (over 750 ft long and roughly 20-25 seconds), you continuously build up speed and G-forces. This is a slide that you will actually benefit from carrying a few extra pounds from as you'll go faster. Because of how fast you come out of the slide at the end, you tend to skip across the water like a rock. Easily one of my favorite waterslides i've ever been on. Here's a POV video from @RollermanDan of the slide.



As for the rest of the park, the slides were no slouch. The wave pool wasn't anything too special, but I sort of enjoyed it more than VB's oddly. The mat racer slide was one of the best i've done in recent memory, The Slingshot was fun (only really meant for two at this park but we squeezed three in and went super high up the wall). The Dueling Demons drop slides were fun, but not overly intense. It was a good introductory drop slide for someone like my sister who had never done one before and is afraid to do the ones at VB. The Screeching Serpent was a fun, straight down body slide.

You can see the zipline go over the water park in this picture:

Pretty much everything was a fun time here and we stayed almost the whole day. Left to go hang out by the beach for a few hours, but then came back to do some slides again and closed out the park. Was it worth $100/person? No, but we had fun and honestly on vacation that's all i'm looking for. The main thing that stuck out that this park is missing is a lazy river. It's beyond my understanding why they would build this park brand spankin' new for May 2019 and leave out one of the most popular features at any water park. There does look like there is an expansion plot, but i'm not sure they'd use it for a lazy river at this point as the plot of land sort of looks best suited to house another slide complex.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Thanks for the report! Going cruising next month, hoping for a similar experience as yours.

It was overpriced to be sure, although it was less than the normal cost of the Atlantis Paradise Island. The cost was roughly $99/person whereas Atlantis is normally around $120.

Pro tip: depending on the time of year, you can book a 1-night stay in one of the older rooms at Atlantis for cheaper than the $120 ticket cost, but get the water park admission included in your room (for all guests in the room). Just show up, check in, get your wristbands, then do an early check-out.