Choose Your (Perfect) Adventure

I want to start by saying this is not the end all be all guide to Coco Cay. There is SO MUCH to do, and I have posts that dig a little more into the nuts and bolts, but this is what we chose to do on this one PERFECT day on this particular sailing.

After such an action-packed embarkation day, we had to be mentally prepared for a quick turnaround for A Perfect Day! No pressure there, right? I mean it’s not like you just invested who knows how much time, money, physical, mental, emotional stress just to get everyone on the ship, and now a promise of perfection must be fulfilled?!? How could this be?

Stress not. This has quickly become one of our favorite, if not requisite, stops on our itineraries. This is quite literally a bespoke island that is designed from stem to stern for cruise connoisseurs. Let’s be honest. Days at port can be demanding. It’s quite challenging to get exposure to a city’s culture, cuisine, attractions, etc. What if you didn’t need to worry about it? Want to hang out at the beach? Done. Want to thrill your face off at some crazy water park? Ah-Check. How about some ritzy-as-you-can lobster and upscale dining in a private cabana at an exclusive beach club? Oui Madame. Le-Check. The point is with such control over the experience, Royal Caribbean has fine tuned this stop to literally meet the vast majority of travelers wants and needs.

For us, this Perfect Day was to be all about, or at least mostly about, the kids. Our last trip, we were kid-free enjoying floating cabanas and poolside bar drinks till we met our fill. This time, it was straight to Splashaway Bay. Cost: $0.00. This is one of the most impressive splash pads we’ve experienced. It has 5 slides that were thrilling enough for parents and 5-year-olds alike. Height requirement is minimum 36 inches so lots of kids can do them! Don’t get me wrong. Our Evil Kanevil oldest will be first in line for the thrill park one day, but for today even she felt like “those are are for the real big kids”.

From there, it was to off to the Oasis Lagoon. Cost: $0.00. Another free location on Coco Cay, the Oasis Lagoon is.. well.. Perfect. First off, it’s huge. Like really big. As in, the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean big! We were the only ship there today, and not at full capacity. That said, seating was abundant. Plenty of room in the pool to space out. Or, for those who’d like to Cha-Cha Slide AquaRobics-Style (highly recommended) with a cadre of your new-found shipmates, there’s a place for that as well at the pool bar. The music at the bar is an excellent blend of contemporary hits with requisite poolside top charts included. The swim-up, yes that’s right, swim-up bar is expansive. Perhaps a bit too easy to order. The speciality is a souvenir cup with a Coco Loco, or your choice of mixed drink. The cup is not cheap. It does actually make a pretty good cup for the gym after the trip. The refills are reasonable, and while the initial cup/drink combo purchase is not included in drink packages, refills are. We ended up spending ~$60 on four cup/drink combos. There is a large side that is zero-entry and super easy for the kids to choose how deep they want to go. There are a handful of kid friendly fountains in the shallow-end to entertain the little ones!

There are many options to for reserving your own private cabana for your family throughout the island and you can read more about them here! But, the fast answer from me is- for families, if location is your priority book one of the Oasis Lagoon Cabanas. The view is obstructed by foliage, but you gain some privacy. They’re located conveniently to the Oasis Lagoon pool, Splashaway Bay, and Thrill Waterpark, as well as food and restrooms. If you’re looking to enjoy a view for the day, I recommend Chill Island Cabanas. And, of course, if you’re looking to spend your day like you’re on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, look no further than the overwater cabanas at the Coco Beach Club. The only thing lacking is Robin Leach narrating your day.

We didn’t have lunch on the island on this trip. There are numerous free dining options like Skipper’s Grill, Snack Shack, and Chill Grill as well as one paid for, Captain Jack’s.

After enjoying some poolside time, lounge chair relaxation, it was back to the Splashaway Bay for more slides. Individual mileage may vary, but for our kid, the slides never really got old. Splashaway Bay is fairly central to food, bathrooms, and the other attractions. By around 3:00, we were ready to head back to the ship.

Once back on board, we headed back to the room for some much needed down time, relaxation, and to get ready for dinner. Dinner was, once again, on point. I tried to the Lamb Curry. How you might ask? Well, in addition to the main menu, there are many Dietary specific meals choices that the kitchen will provide at request when you book your sailing. You can ask your server to see another menu, and they will check with the kitchen to see if they can accommodate, as they make more limited numbers of these dishes. One of these is a non-vegetarian, and vegetarian Indian Cuisine that varies nightly. Tonight it was lamb curry and traditional daal with naan. It had a mild to mild plus spice level to it, but excellent flavor. The kids were on repeat with cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, and lots of broccoli.

After dinner, my wonderful husband watched our 2-year-old while oldest and I went to wander the ship and catch up with some friends on board.

Sleep came easy and a much needed Day at Sea Awaits!

Shop this post and Follow My LTK :

• Swimwear all by Cabana Life, all UPF 50 so my girls are ALWAYS in long sleeved rash guards at Coco Cay and on Caribbean beach days

• Jute Tote Bag by Milly Kate, this bag has been by my side this entire sailing. Love it. New cruise bag for sure. Travel flat in a packing cube.

• Nauti Hat by Judith March, second cruise I’ve brought this on. Big, but worth it.