Keep my cabana???

[Stinkerbe11]

Our family of 4 had a cabana on our last cruise and there were definitely some pros and cons. I absolutely loved it and I would be sooo happy to sit in there all day...but DH and the kids (4 and 7) wanted to swim, snorkel, ride bikes etc...

I think it really depends on the dynamics of your group. Younger kids probably won't want to sit in the cabana all day, they will want to play in the sand, swim and explore. On the other hand, it would be perfect for grandparents and infants as it provides comfortable seating, shade and a stocked refrigerator.

I probably wouldn't do it again unless we had others to share it with. We just didn't spend enough time there to justify the cost.

 

[DVCNuts]

We didn't sit in the cabana all day either. I would say it was about 50-50. We rode bikes, floated on the water, sat in the sun, built sand castles, checked out Serenity Bay, walked around, etc. The cabana is a nice "home base" to go back to and leave your stuff. There is a safe for valuables. They bring you the really nice "concierge" beach towels, all you want, and fresh ones when you need them. It is a luxury for sure. Our preference is to get a cabana every time.

If anyone feels as though they would need to sit in the cabana all day to get their money's worth, they should probably not rent one. Don't do it just because you were lucky enough to get one. Go with your gut. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

We didn't sit in the cabana all day either. I would say it was about 50-50. We rode bikes, floated on the water, sat in the sun, built sand castles, checked out Serenity Bay, walked around, etc. The cabana is a nice "home base" to go back to and leave your stuff. There is a safe for valuables. They bring you the really nice "concierge" beach towels, all you want, and fresh ones when you need them. It is a luxury for sure. Our preference is to get a cabana every time.

If anyone feels as though they would need to sit in the cabana all day to get their money's worth, they should probably not rent one. Don't do it just because you were lucky enough to get one. Go with your gut. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

Exactly. Last year we had myself & DH, 22yo DD, 16yo DS, and 11yo DD.

We basically used the cabana as a home base with everyone enjoying whatever they wanted to do.

It started clouding up and sprinkling on and off after lunch but we stayed until all aboard anyway. Without the cabana I think we may have felt "rained out" and headed back to the ship early.

I have some great pics of everyone napping in the cabana - older DD was actually sleeping on a lounger with the rain falling on her!

This year older DS will be joining us as well and we are planning to take the bike ride and try the snorkeling that we didn't do last year!

91 days to Cabana 9!!!

 

[rosermama]

I looked on the DCL website and couldn't find it, can someone tell me:
How much it costs to rent a cabana?
How many people does it cover?
How much is it for each addtional person?
When is the last that you can cancel?
If you are sharing with another family how do you add them to your reservation if your reservations aren't linked?

TIA

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I looked on the DCL website and couldn't find it, can someone tell me:
How much it costs to rent a cabana?
How many people does it cover?
How much is it for each addtional person?
When is the last that you can cancel?
If you are sharing with another family how do you add them to your reservation if your reservations aren't linked?

TIA

$499 for family beach, $399 for serenity bay
Up to 6 people
$50 per extra person up to 10 people
Three days before your cruise starts
Don't know

:cutie

 

[rosermama]

$499 for family beach, $399 for serenity bay
Up to 6 people
$50 per extra person up to 10 people
Three days before your cruise starts
Don't know

:cutie

Thanks, as always you are a wealth of information.

Now I can see if the other family wants to share since I have prices, then we just have to figure out how to add them to our reservation if I am lucky enough to get one.

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

If you are sharing with another family how do you add them to your reservation if your reservations aren't linked?

TIA

You have to do it on the ship.

With two linked cabins I was unable to add the rest of my family in the other cabin. I called and was told only GS on the ship can add them.

ETA: Others have also said that GS can split the billing between cabins.

 

[rosermama]

You have to do it on the ship.

With two linked cabins I was unable to add the rest of my family in the other cabin. I called and was told only GS on the ship can add them.

ETA: Others have also said that GS can split the billing between cabins.

That's what I thought Thanks for the answer

 

[U2FanHfx]

That's what I thought Thanks for the answer

The other thing I have learned is that the online system sometimes (in my case and others it did) in adding all the people even if you are linked. What I had to do was book just those in my stateroom and I was told once onboard, just go see guest services and they will add the others. It gives you and error like "no availability between when you checked and when you went to add" but that's BS as it retrieves cabana availability and "holds" it for you for a few mins. Once I selected just our stateroom...it went through no problem.

 

[hbg4]

I agree that only you can make the decision. If the $500 price tag is causing you to hesitate, cancel it. There are plenty of others who will jump at it.

We LOOOOOOOVED the cabana. We are not beach people. We like to look at the beach from the pool.

With the cabana, it is a breezy, comfortable spot to enjoy the view. You have use of all of the toys, floats, bicycles, etc. The beach is UNCROWDED. You have your own roped off area to float in the water. Fresh water shower lets you stay salt and sand free. You might wind up next to a celebrity like John Stamos-- we did! We are not beach people, but we stayed ALL DAY.

And did I mention the view? THIS is my happy place:

I'm so glad I didn't cancel my cabana.

I've never had a cabana before. Since we will be cruising concierge, I had the chance to book one early for our August 25th sailing.
I decided to give it a try if only for this once, since I may never get this opportunity again.
DD15 made me cancel her Wild Side Vibes shore excursion since she wants to hang out in the Cabana too.
As people say, each to his own.
At least I will be able to say "been there done that".

 

[PrincessShmoo]

You have to do it on the ship.

With two linked cabins I was unable to add the rest of my family in the other cabin. I called and was told only GS on the ship can add them.

ETA: Others have also said that GS can split the billing between cabins.

Now I know

 

[Melrosgirl]

Disney charges a lot for their cabanas. Just returned from Royal Caribbean and on Labadee (their private destination), it was "only" $200 for a cabana over the water in the concierge section of the beach. Loved it. $200 seems like such a bargain now.

 

[AlexandNessa]

I'm so glad I didn't cancel my cabana.

I've never had a cabana before. Since we will be cruising concierge, I had the chance to book one early for our August 25th sailing.
I decided to give it a try if only for this once, since I may never get this opportunity again.
DD15 made me cancel her Wild Side Vibes shore excursion since she wants to hang out in the Cabana too.
As people say, each to his own.
At least I will be able to say "been there done that".

I'm in the same boat as you (literally!). I snagged a cabana, just in case we wanted it. I logged in around the 118 day mark (we are concierge as well), and I snagged one on the Family Beach because a concierge on our last cruise recommended that as opposed to the ones on Serenity Bay. We hemmed and hawed about it since it's just the two of us, but hubby looked at everyone's cabana pics that were posted and said "keep it." He too said what you did ... we can say "been there done that!"

 

[DVCNuts]

We hemmed and hawed about it since it's just the two of us, but hubby looked at everyone's cabana pics that were posted and said "keep it." He too said what you did ... we can say "been there done that!"

We booked the same cabana we had last time (with our adult kids) for our anniversary "just the two of us" cruise in 8 weeks. You might make friends whom you would like to invite to join you. Or you might just like the privacy! We are prepared for either. We will always want a cabana.

 

[DVCNuts]

I'm so glad I didn't cancel my cabana.

I've never had a cabana before. Since we will be cruising concierge, I had the chance to book one early for our August 25th sailing.
I decided to give it a try if only for this once, since I may never get this opportunity again.
DD15 made me cancel her Wild Side Vibes shore excursion since she wants to hang out in the Cabana too.
As people say, each to his own.
At least I will be able to say "been there done that".

Sorry if I am posting too much here, but I am serious-- that picture says it all! You made a great decision. It was a brilliant decision for Disney to build the cabanas.

I would bet the cost of a cabana (since I don't own a farm) on the chance that you won't say "been there done that". You will more likely say "when can we come back and do this again???"

In my humble opinion, if you booked a cabana, go for it. And take your own version of the picture I did! I would love to see it.

 

[WallaceFamily]

With the bigger boats, why don't they build more cabanas?

 

[DVCNuts]

Maybe they will. Lots of room on Castaway Cay.
They built the cabanas when they launched the new ships.

 

[nikicares]

We try and get a Cabana each time we go CC! We love it - the whole family ( 2 adults and a teenager). We don't necessarily stay at the cabana all day, we do massages, snorkeling, pelican plunge... but we love that the cabana offers "more" than just a place to sit in the shade... we have a quieter end to the beach, chairs with umbrella's, towels in our cabana (dont need to carry them to/from dock), sunscreen in cabana, mini fridge (water, coke, sprite- all included) and beer (extra cost) chips and fruit, hammock and shower at each cabana to rinse off the salt water... love the convience of having everything there for us! We enjoyed eating lunch in our cabana... and there is a safe in the cabana for personal items (camera and such) along with concierge service should you need refills on your drinks

I agree it is a personal preference and you can only determine the needs and things your family see value in. I can say that wether you have a cabana or not you will enjoy your day at Castaway

 

[cjnix29]

Ok, not sure I like all these people saying to keep it rather than cancel! I keep praying for someone to cancel so I can snag one for our cruise! So if you are on the August 25th Fantasy....you don't really need a cabana, they are a waste of money, you can have a fabulous time on CC without it, they aren't really that nice, you'll regret not canceling when you are stuck in the same place all day....

 

[jjgarv]

We've done CC 10 times with no cabana and one time with a cabana. The one time with the cabana, we split it three ways b/c we had both sets of parents traveling with us. In this circumstance, it was definitely worth it for us.

However, based upon how we (DH, myself and DD9) spend our CC day and our personal finances/budget, we would rather spend the $500 elsewhere. We've had perfect and fabulous CC days without a cabana, and we had one lovely day with a cabana. IMHO, it truly comes down to your personal finances/budget and how you choose to spend your money. Either way, Castaway Cay is our favorite day of the cruise!