Royal Caribbean’s Private Island Voted Best of 2023

Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay has been named Best Cruise Line Private Island in the 2023 Cruise Hive Awards. It’s the third consecutive year the island in the Bahamas has won this honor.

Perfect Day at CocoCay Becomes Best Cruise Line Private Island Destination

Perfect Day at CocoCay was voted top in the Best Cruise Line Private Island award category, getting 34% of the vote. Nine islands in total competed for the annual honor, including Carnival’s Half Moon Cay and Amber Cove, Princess Cruises’ Princess Cays, and MSC Cruises’ Ocean Cay.

The annual Cruise Hive Awards opened on October 1, 2023, and closed on Friday, December 22, with all valid votes tabulated to select the winners in each of the eight award categories. Cruise Hive readers could each cast one vote per category.

The awards have been an annual feature since 2014, and offers real cruise fan insights into different cruise lines and experiences so everyone can plan their best cruise vacation. You can check all the results so far right here.

CocoCay – also known as Little Stirrup Cay – is one of the Berry Islands, a chain of about 30 islands about 55 miles north of Nassau. It opened as Perfect Day in CocoCay in 2019 after $250 million in improvements from Royal Caribbean. It has enough space and amenities to accommodate up to 6,000 cruisers per day. 

Among Perfect Day at CocoCay’s highlights are three beaches, the largest freshwater pool in the Bahamas, the biggest wave pool in the Caribbean, over-water cabanas, and Daredevil’s Peak, the tallest waterslide in North America at 135 feet high.

A new, exclusive VIP area, Coco Cay Club, is wowing guests with its floating cabanas. Guests can also enjoy a 1,600-foot-long zip line, a helium balloon ride over the island, and 13 waterslides.

Read Also: Things to Know About Perfect Day at CocoCay Bahamas

For sports enthusiasts, volleyball, soccer, basketball, stand-up paddleboarding, and sea kayaking are available. For those who savor downtime, Perfect Day at CocoCay rents private bungalows, daybeds, and teepees (cone-shaped tents).

One new feature at CocoCay scheduled to open in January 2024 is Hideaway Beach, an adults-only area with exclusive bars and dining venues situated poolside and beachside for guests to enjoy.

Many of the amenities are included in the cruise price, while some activities require an additional fee. For example, full-day admission to the Thrill Waterpark runs between $44 and $99 per person, depending on the season. 

Carnival’s Half Moon Cay and Amber Cove Resorts Finish in Top 3

Carnival’s Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas finished in second place in the 2023 Cruise Hive Awards with 17% of the vote. Amber Cove, another Carnival Cruise private island, finished in third place with 13% of the vote.

Princess Cruise’s private island in the Bahamas – Princess Cays – finished in fourth place with 8%, followed by MSC Cruise’s Ocean Cay (7%), Disney Cruise Line’s Castaway Cay (6%), Norwegian Cruise Line’s Great Stirrup Cay (5%), Royal Caribbean’s Labadee (4%), and Norwegian’s Harvest Caye (3%).

Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay won its third consecutive away in 2023. In 2022, it was voted the top private island with 34% of the vote, just barely besting Carnival’s Half Moon Cay, which had 33% of the vote. 

In 2021, the first year Cruise Hive introduced the Best Cruise Line Private Island award, Perfect Day at CocoCay, again topped Half Moon Cay for the honor.

CocoCay has been a Royal Caribbean private island since the 1980s, but only in the last few years has it really become in demand and is only used by Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Celebrity Cruises ships will also begin visiting the island.