Day 4: Ocean Cay!!!!
What a spectacular private island! Truly a slice of Caribbean heaven. The day we were at Ocean Cay was brutally hot with no wind or breeze. We weren’t off the ship 15 minutes when my youngest started to complain about the heat and how she needed to get into the water fast! I had planned to rent an umbrella, but the stand to get the umbrellas was a good walk and everyone we got off the ship with was headed there. We decided to wing it and park ourselves on Lighthouse Beach (which was crowded). At first we were sitting on our towels in the sand, but we were able to eventually land ourselves a table + 2 chairs with an umbrella and a large beach bean bag.
Our view of the MSC Meraviglia from Lighthouse Beach on Ocean Cay
One note on the umbrellas – you have to carry it to whatever beach you go to, and you must return it to the rental stand. I heard some folks complaining about that – having to haul an umbrella around all day if they wanted to explore the island. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t rent one because it would have been physically difficult to manage that and carry all of the stuff I had for me and the kids.
Lighthouse Beach on Ocean Cay
There is a more family friendly area called the Lagoon, but it was a farther walk (the trams were full so walking was our only option in the moment) and I had heard through previous sailing posts on Facebook that the sea lice in the lagoon were out in full force. When we returned to the ship later in the afternoon, we heard this from many families who had been at the lagoon and were now dealing with bites and itchy skin.
Beach bar service was not good for us (though others we saw seemed to have better). Had a lovely server chat us up and take a drink order never to return (I waited nearly an hour for her to come back LOL). Walked up to the bar instead and got drinks quickly. I didn’t mind at all, the staff at the bars and the photographers walking up and down the beaches are working so hard and it was so hot!
We didn’t go the buffet for lunch, instead getting hamburgers and chicken fingers from the food truck on Lighthouse Beach. Food wasn’t anything to write home about but it did the job – you never want hungry kiddos at the beach!
The water was divine, and the girls were in it the entire time. I enjoyed it as well and it was pretty cool to be swimming with our ship in the background. We tapped out after 3 hours and returned to the ship and the Bamboo Pool. I wish the heat had not been so brutal because I wanted to check out the Lighthouse Beach Bar but that’ll have to be next time.
A quick note on staff and the private island – most of the staff working on the island are also working on the cruise ships so when you are onboard while in port there a less bars, eateries open and the ice cream bar at the main pool is closed. Not a big deal but my kids were disappointed not to have ice cream when we got back on board.
