Islands in the sun

This week we have seen news of MSC’s first private island ‘ Ocean Cay ‘

Ocean Cay is 20miles off Bahamas and 65 miles from Miami, every Caribbean itinerary will eventually call to their private island and are likely to have a long day there due to being so close to Miami.

There will be 8 beaches on the island and most of them will be reserved for specific guests. i.e family, Yacht Club etc. There will be a main beach where water sports will take place.

Families and couples will be able to watch ‘Movies under the stars’ whilst sat on the beach. Whilst the restaurants will remain open on the ship there will be a buffet style food offered whilst on the island. There will be a couple of shops also selling MSC merchandise and also local Bahamian goods.

The island will be completely flat and the furthest part of the island is a 17 minute walk.

The next plan for MSC is to get a second private island that will be able to be booked for groups of people and they can hire this exclusively for the day.

As you may already know Royal Caribbean has Labadee in Haiti and they are soon to open ‘Perfect day ‘ at Coco Cay Bahamas in May. They have also just revealed they plan to have five ‘Perfect Day’ private islands over the next five years. They plan to follow with private islands in Asia, for the Chinese market, one off the coast of Australia and another in the Caribbean.
A royal spokesman said “We have been busy acquiring land around the world and each one will have a slightly different concept, depending on what each market’s idea of a perfect day is.”

They have ten of the fleet with planned itineraries to Cocacay and eventually they are hoping for overnight stays and even talks of putting some accommodation on the island which would also mean you could arrive on 1 ship and leave on another.

What do you think of the islands ?

I think its great if it replaces a sea day as a relaxation day and also fantastic for families !!