The newest two private island experiences are both impressive and well worth visits. We took the opportunity in November to visit both of these private islands on back to back cruises out of Cape Canaveral. The first one was on the MSC Divina and the second was on the RCL Independence of the seas. The Divina is slightly smaller, but both are large ships: Divina – 3,502 passengers, 139,400 GT; Independence 4,560 passengers – 155,889 GT.

The Divina had approximately 420 guests on our sailing with about 1,200 crew. The Independence of the Seas had around 1,000 guests and 1,300 crew. Obviously, the 3 to 1 crew to passenger ratio on the MSC ship was a huge bonus but neither ship or island was crowded at all.

The two Islands are 83 miles apart with Ocean Cay being much closer to the coast of Florida and only 65 miles from Miami. Ocean Cay is actually closer to Florida than to Nassau which is 118 miles away.

Ocean Cay: Beach paradise!

MSC transformed a former sand mine into the newest cruise stop in the Bahama’s. This $400 million plus transformation has created an island paradise. The island is lined with beaches and has a large lagoon. Only one ship can dock at a time and many spend the night, allowing access to the island until 11:30. The island has a lighthouse which is used for nightly laser shows. With the available internet and drink package, almost everything on the island was free. The biggest exception were the beach umbrellas which were $12 each. Of course cabanas and specialty restaurants were additional. The island had a free Buffet and numerous snack shacks near all the main beaches.

CoCoCay: Tropical Playground!

Beaches plus the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean and the highest water slide in North America; what is not to love! This is a beautiful island and a place where you can relax, hang around the massive pool bar or play in the water park. Two ships can dock here daily which could be a concern if 10,000 people were on the island at the same time. In our case, with only 1,000 passengers and one ship, so there was more than enough room. If you have the drink package and internet package from the ship, you can use both on the Island. There are specialty restaurants on the island and you have to pay to use the water park, zipline or go up in the balloon. The water park also has a wave pool. The island has a complementary buffet with ice cream and snack shacks. The snack shacks have Shack Burgers and Shack Crispy Chicken sandwiches which definitely are my favorite. They also have Mozzarella Sticks and Funnel Cakes. Also, there is a “Secret” Sandwich: the crispy chicken sandwich topped with the cheese sticks and marina sauce. Its basically a Chicken Parmesan sandwich and actually is more fun to order than eat….but it is worth trying.

Pro’s and Con’s of the islands:

1. Both Islands are beautiful. Ocean Cay is more natural while CocoCay is more like a beach with an amusement park.
2. CocoCay could get crowded. There are more than enough chairs and umbrellas, but I couldn’t imagine the lines if 10,000 people are there at one time. I don’t think Ocean Cay could ever be crowed, even with 5,000 passengers.
3. The water and water activities were similar on both Islands. Snorkeling was good, but not fantastic.
4. The overnight experience at Ocean Cay was fantastic. The ability to take a walk on the beach after dinner is a not to miss activity. We were told that RCL was considering overnight stays on CocoCay in the future, but we have not seen any cruises with that option.
5. The food on CocoCay was much better. The snack shacks at the Ocean Cay offered only Hamburgers and Hot Dogs. Additionally, there you had to pay for ice cream!
6. Both Islands are building boutique hotels and will let some people stay on the Islands for several days.
7. While we were docked, the Casino’s on the ships were allowed to be open.
8. Having to pay for a beach umbrella or to climb up the lighthouse seamed silly on Ocean Cay. Hopefully, they will change that policy.
9. Make sure that you catch the laser light show on the beach at Ocean Cay and visit the Lighthouse Bar for a great atmosphere and views.

Bottom line: I highly recommend visiting both of these Islands. The experiences are unique enough that you won’t be disappointed. If you do book an MSC cruise, make sure you pick one that does an overnight at Ocean Cay. If you could only do one cruise, and couldn’t do an overnight at Ocean Cay; I would go to CocoCay. Just make sure you look at the island schedule to make sure that two large ships aren’t there the same day.