On the final day of this 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the MSC World America, we are at MSC’s Ocean Cay Marine Reserve. I wanted to get a nice view of the island as we pulled up to the pier, so I scouted out what I thought would be a nice spot to get a look and some pictures. Once I found an opportune location, my first impression was — where’s the rest of the island??
While it looked nice, with plenty of beaches spread around, from the ship it seemed tiny. I swear I remember somewhere it was boasted that this is the largest private island in the cruise industry, so I was a bit confused. A little internet detective work was required to solve this puzzle. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but as Disney Cruise regulars, we have been to Castaway Cay numerous times. Ocean Cay seemed to be considerably smaller. As I did a quick search, I found the clarification is in the semantics. Ocean Cay is 95 acres in size but 100% developed; Castaway Cay is just under 1,000 acres, with only around 55 acres developed. Just goes to show you media manipulation isn’t just reserved for politics. So okay, I’ll give you the “largest developed acreage of a private island.”
After we finished our breakfast, we made our way to the Top Sail Lounge, with beach bag in tow. Our butler, Primas, escorted us down to the gangway where he passed us over to the onshore concierge team. After a short walk down the pier, we waited at the Yacht Club tent for just a few minutes for the shuttle to take us to “Bimini Beach.”
There were a few different-sized shuttles I noticed making runs. Some were traditional 6-seat golf carts, while others were more of the limo style that had room for around 16 guests. There was a small line forming for the Yacht Club transports, and as one pulled up, it was quickly filled by the families in front of us.
With only 5 of us left in line, the concierge attendant asked us to follow her. We started making our way toward the gen pop transport line. Yup — she hijacked the first cart that pulled up! The hundred or so guests who were standing in the hot sun didn’t seem thrilled, and I heard at least a few murmurs.
Membership has its privileges, I guess. Or more so — don’t hate the player, hate the game!
Prior to our sailing, we had rented a cabana for our time on Ocean Cay. However, once we got the upgrade to Yacht Club, we had a dilemma. There weren’t any cabanas left available in the dedicated Yacht Club area of the island. Our choice was to either:
- Cancel the cabana, receiving an onboard credit as a refund, and enjoy some of the exclusive offerings within the Yacht Club area
- Keep the cabana and forfeit the benefits of being in the reserved area — such as having access to the Ocean House Bar and Grill, beverage service directly to our beach chairs, and private transportation via golf cart to our cabana/beach
Our concierge team had approached us earlier in the week to discuss these options. Ultimately, we chose to roll the dice a bit and keep the cabana and hope that we would be located close enough to the Yacht Club beach so we’d be able to walk over at least for lunch. Credit to the concierge, as they were able to secure a cabana that was directly adjacent to the Yacht Club beach — literally separated by a nylon rope. The servers nearby had already been alerted to our location and walked the extra few steps to make sure we were taken care of throughout the day. Best of both worlds. I noticed the cabana next to us must have been in the same situation.
I’m going to get the one negative out of the way here. Even though we had reserved the cabana months ahead of time, we simply had one set aside — no specific location or number. Even when we arrived to check in at the lounge before heading off the ship, they had a spreadsheet stating that we had a rental but only listed it as being on the “Bimini” beach. We still had to go over to the excursion tent near the designated beach to find out what cabana number we were assigned to. You’d think there would be better communication within departments, as obviously the cabanas had been assigned at least the day before and the printouts were from that morning. I hate inefficiency.
Since the shuttle driver was only used to going back and forth from the pickup and drop-off locations, it took a few minutes for him to find the right spot. I’ll give him credit though, as he volunteered to assist us in getting there and was determined to make sure we got where we needed to be. A few extra minutes out of our day — but where else did we need to be?
Beach Time at Ocean Cay Marine Reserve!
Our cabana was beautifully located with ocean views and only a short walk to the Ocean House for lunch and restrooms. For a rental fee of $278, we had the cabana the entire day, and it included: 4 sun loungers, towels, a cooler with bottled water, and two floating mats. As mentioned, we also received beverage service from the Yacht Club, but that generally isn’t part of the cabana rental.
The ocean breeze was coming primarily from behind us and made its way through the slats in the wall enough, but we still made use of our portable fan to supplement that. The benefit, though, was this wind direction caused the water to be very calm in this location. Since the layout of the island has beaches facing every direction, it could make a big difference in surf conditions.
This also proved to be the perfect time for a NA Strawberry Daiquiri, while Angie and Becca each got a Miami Vice (NA Strawberry Daiquiri/Piña Colada combo).
The day was perfect. Beautiful beach with the water temperature a refreshing 87°. Becca spent a good amount of time floating in the water with one of her friends, while Angie and I alternated between the water and relaxing in the shade. There was a volleyball net set up just off to the side in front of us, and there were a few laughs as groups formed for some friendly competition.
When lunchtime rolled around, we made our way over to the Ocean House Bar and Grill to get a few minutes of air conditioning and nourishment. Approaching the door, we passed the other family we had talked to on day one and hooked Becca up with. The lobster roll was highly recommended and boasted to be better than the one on the ship. A little unsure of this comparison, I asked our server if it was the same, and he too said that “the ship is 90%, this is 100%.”
Okay, I’m sold. I did order the mahi as well, just in case. To be honest, the lobster roll tasted the same as onboard — good, but nothing special. The mahi was fantastic though, and I was glad I doubled down.
I do recommend wearing water shoes when visiting Ocean Cay, as the sand and water are very coarse, with a lot of large shells and rocks hiding amongst the sand. There is a reason that most cruise lines like to save their private island destinations for the end of the itinerary — not only a relaxing day at the beach, but a fabulous location and amenities.
Without the cabana, it may have been a little different, as I’m not big on the fact that if you even want an umbrella, you have to rent it for the day and carry it with you to set up. Spend the little extra money and get it. It accommodates up to six guests, so you can even share it if you are so inclined.
Photos from Around Ocean Cay Marine Reserve
Captain to the Bridge Please!
With our beach day complete, we made our way back to the ship a little early in order to make it to our second tour — Behind the Scenes: Command and Control Areas. This tour, at $49 for adults and $38 for children, takes us into the Engine Control Room as well as the Bridge to see what makes this vessel go. One key note on this tour: once again, phones and cameras are not permitted. Much like the tour of the theater and galley areas, we were reminded not to bring them long before we left our staterooms in the form of another round of waivers and our tour tickets. For the first tour, they simply asked anyone who did bring one along that they remain in their pockets. This time, they used a portable metal detector wand to check each passenger prior to leaving the assembly area, and those few that couldn’t read or thought rules didn’t apply to them had their devices confiscated by the guides.
Don’t worry kids — you’ll get them back at the end of class!
Again, we were split into two groups, with half starting in the control room while the others went to the bridge first. Our group made our way down to the control room on Deck 3. With the digital world we live in, and this being a brand-new ship with all the bells and whistles, the control room was smaller than you’d expect. I’d say it’s approximately the size of a standard stateroom, maybe a touch bigger. However, instead of having a bed and other furnishings, the walls were covered with computer screens and a few consoles. Each screen was monitoring different aspects of navigation and operating systems. One of the engineers on duty did a fantastic job of relating information and answering questions regarding the multitude of screens in front of us. While he did struggle a little between a language barrier (it seemed Italian was his native tongue) and trying to use layman’s terms for some of the more technical aspects, he was both educational and engaging.
A few of the topics he touched on were:
- The ship is steered using a fixed propeller system
- The requirements for waste disposal at sea
- How water is desalinated onboard
- How many generators were onboard and how they were used
A fixed propeller system has two propellers that are in a fixed position to propel the ship along. In order to make a turn, one propeller is sped up while the other remains constant. Or, to put it another way — to go straight, both propellers are set to 100 rpm; to make a left turn, the right propeller is sped up to 150 rpm while the left remains at 100 rpm.
How much garbage does your family generate in an average week? Now multiply that by 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew floating around the open ocean. When it comes to waste disposal on a cruise ship, you can’t exactly pull into port and pump the septic tank like you do on your RV. For maritime disposal, there are a few governing bodies that dictate the type of waste that can be disposed of at sea, where it can be disposed, and even a minimum speed you must be traveling in order to jettison the refuse. These regulations are in place to limit how many pollutants are introduced into the ecosystem. Don’t worry though — it doesn’t all end up in the ocean. What gets dumped is primarily food and human waste; the rest gets offloaded during port stops. This is one reason they have all the garbage bins around the ship labeled for paper, plastic, or food.
The fresh water that is provided onboard is mainly sea water that goes through large filtration and desalination tanks before making its way into the sink in your stateroom. These tanks are monitored in the control room and can be seen using internal security cameras.
It was also explained that this ship has five total generators onboard. These are not only used to make the propellers turn but also supply all the electricity to the ship. How many are in use at any time is dictated by whether the ship is in motion and how much power is needed. As we were still docked at Ocean Cay, there was a single generator in use just to keep the lights on. He explained that on a sea day with calm conditions, they could use as few as two generators to maintain minimal speeds of 6–8 knots. When traveling at higher speeds or through rough waters, they will use up to four. The remaining generator is mostly an emergency backup.
All fairly interesting facts, if you’re into that type of thing (I am — the kid, not so much).
As it was nearing time to pull out of port, I was needed up on the bridge to begin preparations for departure. Well, maybe not so much, but that was our next stop.
Here we were introduced to Daniel, the third officer, who showed us the spectacular views and navigational systems that occupy the bridge. My first impression was how open the bridge actually was. There were three “captain’s” chairs for the officers and an array of screens and controls, but that space only took up about a quarter of the bridge. Each wing featured a small control station about the size of your average office desk, for use when docking. The rest was wide open space. No Captain Ahab wheel here, as this age of seafaring is all digital and mostly computerized. Just like airlines, the ship is pretty much on autopilot while at sea, and the officers are basically just surveilling the screens. Also like aircraft, maritime travel is monitored with each vessel having transponders and predetermined routes to ensure proper distance from each other. This, however, doesn’t account for smaller vessels like personal fishing boats and recreational craft, so they still need to keep an eye out for potential hazards in their path.
It was interesting to see that the path of travel is dictated by using set waypoints in the sea — basically moving from point A to B to C. As this isn’t necessarily a straight line, the computer navigation system automatically accounts for turn radius and speed to maintain a smooth voyage. He demonstrated this by showing us the route that was planned out for our return to Port Miami from Ocean Cay. Since it was actually a fairly short distance, we were plotted to take a roundabout path back. This was for a couple of reasons. One was simply to kill time, as we had over fourteen hours to make a six-hour voyage. Another was to make sure we were in the aforementioned distance from shore and travel speeds to accommodate one last waste disposal.
It’s amazing what technology can do, as he mentioned that the minimum bridge staff could be as few as two officers, and it rarely called for more than six. AI is no doubt going to escalate this even further — until the robot revolution comes for us all!
One last thing that caught our attention was the screen that had a real-time count of passengers and crew onboard. While it wasn’t pointed out or mentioned, it was interesting to see the numbers change every few seconds as people were scanned on and off the ship. I guess that hope of hiding out on the beach for a couple of days wasn’t going to happen.
Both officers were excellent at giving us a peek into their world and what it takes to make our vacation possible.
Dinner at Butcher’s Cut Steakhouse on MSC World America
We made a second visit to Butcher’s Cut for dinner tonight. I skipped the bone marrow and went straight to the shrimp cocktail, with Becca giving the tomato soup a try for appetizers.
For our entrees, I went in planning to get the sea bass but decided to give the Wagyu striploin a shot, while Becca went with the ribeye and was again served a steak that was almost as big as her. Angie did a repeat of the chicken. At a $30 upcharge, the Wagyu came out a tender medium rare. It melted in your mouth like butter, it was so tender. The portion size could have been a bit bigger though, as again I felt both the girls received larger allotments on their plates. It was excellent, but for the extra price I’m not sure it was worth it compared to the NY strip or ribeye Becca had each night or the surf and turf I had the first night. That’s one thing I really didn’t care for on this cruise — too many upcharges seem to nickel and dime you.
In all honesty, we considered canceling this reservation and returning to La Brasserie, but as we purchased a specialty dining plan pre-cruise, we would have been out the cost of the dinner without the option to receive credit back.
Cinesonic
Finally, a show worth seeing! This featured performance was held in the Panorama Theater and involved renditions of songs from classic films synchronized with terrific choreography. They got me into it immediately with a performance of one of my favorite numbers from The Greatest Showman — “Come Alive.” From there, we went into the “Danger Zone” and beyond with theme songs from:
- The Greatest Showman
- Top Gun
- Top Gun- Maverick
- Star Wars (instrumental)
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- The Great Gatsby
- Burlesque
- 007
- Barbie
It had the audience engaged from start to finish and topped off with what should have been the finishing number of “From Now On” (The Greatest Showman), but for some reason they followed that with a song from Barbie that I’ve never heard. The four vocalists each featured throughout the performance and had their time in the spotlight, but one stood out in particular with his interpretation of Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum. Swap out the Aussie for an Irish accent, but one of the better recreations I’ve heard. High energy from start to finish, and for the first time this week, the sound system didn’t overpower the presentation.
Of the various entertainment we saw throughout the week, this was the only one I would do again. Honorable mention to Odyssey for Penelope alone. I did see most of it a few nights earlier as I wandered in from the neighboring casino mid-show, but wanted to save the review until I saw it in its entirety. As we had caught a few minutes of a lighting rehearsal for this show on embarkation day, it was one we were looking forward to all week but had trouble getting reservations. It was worth the wait and made for the perfect finale to our cruise.
Scenes from Cinesonic on MSC World America:
I’ll be back with one more report and a wrap up of the cruise, so stay tuned!
Daily Planner for Day 7
