Alexis Thorpe won't be appearing until sometime in June -- probably later in the month. The next two people who will be popping up will be John Aniston as Victor Kirakis on June 8th and Suzanne Rogers as Maggie Horton on June 11th.
There aren't any confirmed dates yet for Matthew Ashford (Jack), Thaao Penglis (Tony), Peggy McCay (Caroline), or Alexis, but it seems like they should all be on by some point in June or early July (by the latest). Ashford and Penglis start filming in early June, so they won't be on screen until at least late June.
I didn't think about the raft thing, but you do raise a good point.
One thing that bothers me is the fact that Abe thought he was in real Salem and kept looking for Lexie and Theo. Hmm...if the tropical climate and not-so-far-off ocean (plus the different background music
) didn't give it away, then the palm trees and other assorted tropical plants definitely should have. No wonder the police never seem to be able to do anything right in Salem!