Cruise line’s island gets US$200M revamp

CocoCay to ‘thrill and chill’ with massive water park

If your idea of a perfect day includes white sands, blue seas and complimentary beach barbecues on a relatively quiet private island, Royal Caribbean International has you covered.

At least, that’s what Royal Caribbean Cruises has been offering passengers on its Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean cruises since the line debuted its tiny Bahamas island, CocoCay, three decades ago. Now, as the focal point of the brand’s Perfect Day program, CocoCay is getting a US$200-million renovation.

The new version of CocoCay will comprise 50 hectares of “thrill and chill” attractions — including what will be one of the Caribbean’s largest water parks. Dubbed “Perfect Day at CocoCay,” it represents an effort to court millennials and new-to-cruise families.

Included in the revamp: two massive water towers and 13 water slides, including Daredevil’s Peak, which, at 41 metres above the sand, will become the tallest slide in North America when it’s completed next spring.

A 487-metre zip line will deposit guests into the water, while a helium balloon ride will take passengers up 137 metres in the air.

All this takes place above the largest wave pool in the Caribbean. A freshwater pool, also the Caribbean’s largest, has in-water loungers, a swim-up bar and poolside cabanas.

If all that sounds like the opposite of your perfect day, there are plenty of opportunities to escape the crowds — two ships docking simultaneously at CocoCay can deposit as many as 10,000 travellers on the little island.

Those looking to unplug should check out the island’s new VIP zone, Coco Beach Club, where there will be Maldives-style overwater cabanas with private water slides that plunge into the sea. Each will be staffed by a cabin attendant who can fetch bottles of bubbly or a variety of snacks.

This two-pronged “thrill and chill” concept is part of a strategy that followed extensive market research.

“We talked to a lot of customers and guests about what really would be their perfect day in the Caribbean on vacation,” says Michael Bayley, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean.

“We’re intending on delivering literally the perfect day for you,” he tells Bloomberg, acknowledging that this can mean radically different things to different people.

One group that won’t be satisfied? Culture hounds. CocoCay will ultimately be a completely manufactured experience.

While 160 Bahamians will be hired to staff the island, integrating Bahamian traditions and meaningful interactions with locals simply isn’t part of the equation.

Royal Caribbean expects its $200-million investment to drive demand for sailings to the Bahamas.

And the amped-up CocoCay will encourage consumers to shell out for a new array of amenities: Separate charges will apply for water slides, wave pool, balloon rides, zip line and the Coco Beach Club. Bar tabs may also increase, thanks to the new swim-up bars. (The food, however, will remain free.)

Royal Caribbean sees the Perfect Day experience as having legs elsewhere in the Caribbean and beyond, including Asia and Australia.

The company is already teasing announcements of new “purchase and lease deals” for other private islands that will form a Perfect Day Island Collection.

Each will have experiences that relate to the location, at least in the subtle way that CocoCay reflects a Caribbean day at the beach, Bayley says.