Are the private cabanas on CC worth the price?

[Disfan11]

We have a group sailing in August.
Should we rent one of these?
How much do they cost?
Are they worth it?
What's your opinion????

 

[outahere]

We have a group sailing in August.
Should we rent one of these?
How much do they cost?
Are they worth it?
What's your opinion????

Whether or not they are worth it is a personal decision, but we had one last week and thought it was the best day (out of 14 visits to CC) we have ever spent on the island. The price is $499 for the ones on the family beach, for up to 6 guests. You can have an additional 4 guests (total of 10) but anyone over the first 6 is $50 per person. It includes floats/tubes, snorkel gear and bike rental for everyone in your party. They are stocked with water, soda, snacks (granola bars) and sunscreen. They also have plenty of towels, so no need to grab any when you get off the ship. The loungers and chairs are padded and very comfortable, and it was great to have a place to get completely out of the sun.

The only downside is that the beach is a little rocky and is pretty bad on the far right end (looking at the water). You are close to Pelican Plunge, Cookies Too and the restrooms. Would we do it again - yes!

 

[Mickey Dog]

I am planning a cruise for May of 2012 and this is something I am trying to talk the others into splurging on!! Thanks for the recap.

 

[Erickson99]

I thought for SURE that the cabanas were the way to go. Then I got shut out of them and was super disappointed. I wasn't sure how Castaway was going to go. THEN I got there. We wound up on the first family beach b/c we were doing the stingrays at 10am. We got a spot right at the end and it was LOVELY. We had an umbrella and were near the water and off to the side. I felt like everyone clustered in the middle (as to the left was the snorkeling) and then the everybody in the water side was towards the middle. It wasn't a long walk and since we wound up spending most of our time in the water it was fantastic. I am glad I saved the money since I wound up spending it on the picture CD.

 

[jetskigrl]

It really is hard to say if it is worth it because that is subjective. If you put a dollar value on the sunscreen, sodas, snacks, etc...probably not. But that isn't really what you are paying for.

For us, our first visit to CC (doing a B2B) was on a very windy day and while we were still able to dock, all excursions were cancelled. We did enjoy the family beach but the wind was hard for my Mom to take and she ended up having an asthma attack because of it.

For that reason, I booked us a cabana for our second visit (this was before you could do it online and I had to be added to a waitlist instead). The second visit to CC was perfect weather and we probably would have been fine on the regular beach but my Mom absolutely loved the cabana. She was able to stay out of the sun but still enjoy watching her grandkids play, etc.

I really appreciated the tubes and snorkel gear that were included and we made good use of them. I was able to take my DD snorkling while my DS played with the sand toys that came with the cabana (while my Mom was able to sit in the lounge chair or hammack and keep an eye on him). I only wish that I had known in advance that we would have a cabana because I would have cancelled our stingray excursion (it took too much time away from the cabana).

My mom says that the day on CC in the cabana was her favorite part of the whole trip. This was a special trip for my kids and my mom (to get that quality time together), so for us..it was totally worth it

 

[ppiew]

I hesitate to reply because I have been accused of having an ulterior motive, but you asked so I will tell you the truth as WE experienced it. Was it worth $499? No. Why? First of all the demographics of our group (we had 2 cabanas) our children ( 5 ) were ages 8 to 15 plus 8 adults. Two adults were at the cabana all day, the others were everywhere else. Part of the beach is great the other (far end) is quite rocky. The biggest deterent to us was how few actually utilized the cabana. It seemed most (plus parents) were gone on excursions or lunch a lot of the time. (sting ray excursions, biking, parasailing, snorkeling, Pelican Plunge to name a few) Now this is NOT to say we didn't like it - we did. It really met a medical need we had at the time, but it was hardly worth the $$$ if it weren't for that. It is interesting that the 'old' family beach at the very beginning of it is actually the least populated and easiest to find hammocks and great shady or sunny seating and actually super water/beach area. You will see what I mean if you look at pictures and see where the majority of the folks are congregated - lots of empty chairs everywhere. (we were on a full ship with spring breakers) Interesting that several of our group (after parasailing) opted to stay at that end of the beach vs. walking all the way back to the cabanas! There - if I get flamed so be it. This was our experience and in no way says the cabanas aren't great. It is how you want to spend your money. Definitely an individual decision