Cabana at Lookout Cay really competitive on Disney Dream cruise

[Steven G]

hi,

I am going on Disney Cruise over New Years (december 30, 2024) on the Disney Dream in concierge.

I sent my request at 12:03am (techinically 11:03pm in my time), and I did not get a cabana at Lighthouse Point. I was told that I was too late.

I dont actually mind TOO much, but I just wanted to let anyone know my experience.

 

[Sakura1017]

Email them saying you want to be added to the waitlist for a cabana.

 

[Steven G]

Email them saying you want to be added to the waitlist for a cabana.

I am on a waitlist. Just a notice to all that you better be serious with sending that email if you really want one

 

[lanejudy]

That's actually a pretty standard experience. There are more concierge staterooms than cabanas, so not unusual for even concierge to be locked out. There's probably a pretty good chance that one may come available for you once the cruise date nears and people solidify their plans.

 

[NephieRN]

1203 is 3 minutes too late. We didnt get a cabana on castaway when sending at exactly midnight on our last concierge sailing.

It didn’t used to be like this before Disney social media groups really took off. Back in 2012-2015, I used to have no trouble getting a cabana even when sending in my requests the following morning. It seems that cabanas have kind of turned in to that unicorn item that everyone thinks they need even if they don’t really want one. Good news is that people often change their mind, so you have a decent chance off getting one of the waitlist.

 

[Steven G]

I'll be fine either way, no worries there. I've never done the cabana, and so just wanted to experience it. I also am not sure if I will be doing another cruise for a while. I also got $1000 onboard credit, so it seemed like a good time to try it out. I'll find another way to spend that $1000...

Also, I looked at my sent email, and it shows 12:04 (technically 11:04) as the sent time, so that's 4 minutes too late apparently . It is my "fault", in that I was watching a youtube video to make sure I stayed up, and it ran longer than I thought, and kept my attention too much to notice it was time. (I had the email ready to go in my email client)

 

[MomOTwins]

I'll be fine either way, no worries there. I've never done the cabana, and so just wanted to experience it. I also am not sure if I will be doing another cruise for a while. I also got $1000 onboard credit, so it seemed like a good time to try it out. I'll find another way to spend that $1000...

Also, I looked at my sent email, and it shows 12:04 (technically 11:04) as the sent time, so that's 4 minutes too late apparently . It is my "fault", in that I was watching a youtube video to make sure I stayed up, and it ran longer than I thought, and kept my attention too much to notice it was time. (I had the email ready to go in my email client)

For the various midnight booking deadlines, I set a phone calendar alert for 11:58pm. That way if I doze off in my chair or get distracted, the phone ping will get me to focus back on the countdown world clock. You definitely want to click right away at midnight on the dot.

 

[Erica1016]

I'll be fine either way, no worries there. I've never done the cabana, and so just wanted to experience it. I also am not sure if I will be doing another cruise for a while. I also got $1000 onboard credit, so it seemed like a good time to try it out. I'll find another way to spend that $1000...

Also, I looked at my sent email, and it shows 12:04 (technically 11:04) as the sent time, so that's 4 minutes too late apparently . It is my "fault", in that I was watching a youtube video to make sure I stayed up, and it ran longer than I thought, and kept my attention too much to notice it was time. (I had the email ready to go in my email client)

Depending on the email program you're using, you can set a "schedule send" and it will send the email at the exact time you want. Then you can get distracted and the magic of technology will send it for you!

 

[MomOTwins]

Depending on the email program you're using, you can set a "schedule send" and it will send the email at the exact time you want. Then you can get distracted and the magic of technology will send it for you!

Word of caution—a lot of computers aren’t quite matched to world clock, and if your computer hits midnight a millisecond too early it will show as 11:59 on the receiving end to concierge and your requests will be booted to the back of the queue. Learned this the hard way one time (though the cruises ended up being cancelled due to covid so ended up not mattering) but now I always use world clock and manually send.

 

[Lillebelle]

+1 that unfortunately this is pretty standard. We have also had the experience where we sent the request right at midnight and still got waitlisted. But we've also gotten a cabana off the waitlist so, fingers crossed for you!

 

[StarStruck393]

1203 is 3 minutes too late. We didnt get a cabana on castaway when sending at exactly midnight on our last concierge sailing.

It didn’t used to be like this before Disney social media groups really took off. Back in 2012-2015, I used to have no trouble getting a cabana even when sending in my requests the following morning. It seems that cabanas have kind of turned in to that unicorn item that everyone thinks they need even if they don’t really want one. Good news is that people often change their mind, so you have a decent chance off getting one of the waitlist.

Not related to cruises specifically, but I remember a trip to Disney in the mid 2000s where we decided mid-trip that we wanted to have dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table, so we went to the concierge at the hotel and they got us a reservation no problem. Nowadays if you're not making a reservation 60 days in advance you're pretty much screwed...

 

[bobby5966]

Word of caution—a lot of computers aren’t quite matched to world clock, and if your computer hits midnight a millisecond too early it will show as 11:59 on the receiving end to concierge and your requests will be booted to the back of the queue. Learned this the hard way one time (though the cruises ended up being cancelled due to covid so ended up not mattering) but now I always use world clock and manually send.

How early before midnight did you send it. Last time we got a cabana I sent it a few seconds before midnight because of the delay usually associated with an email being sent. I’ve seen it range from 6-20 seconds when testing around with this. You can usually check the source of the email and see when they actually received it.

 

[RedHead0186]

In addition to what's already been said, they also just added a bunch of concierge staterooms on the Dream. So now there's even more rooms competing for cabanas than used to be on the Dream.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

I'll be fine either way, no worries there. I've never done the cabana, and so just wanted to experience it. I also am not sure if I will be doing another cruise for a while. I also got $1000 onboard credit, so it seemed like a good time to try it out. I'll find another way to spend that $1000...

Also, I looked at my sent email, and it shows 12:04 (technically 11:04) as the sent time, so that's 4 minutes too late apparently . It is my "fault", in that I was watching a youtube video to make sure I stayed up, and it ran longer than I thought, and kept my attention too much to notice it was time. (I had the email ready to go in my email client)

yep did that fall asleep thing once myself, woke at 12:15 cursing. But I still lucked out so you might as well.

These days I hit send at 12:00:01, and I cc myself to be sure of the time stamp. It works for me. The time stamp reads 12:00.

 

[cmash95]

you didnt lose much. We did a cabana at lighthouse point and frankly they are so isolated and unless you are talking about an adult cabana, you have to take a 15 minute golf cart ride to the other side of the island to get anywhere. also no dressing area or hamocks or floatation devices in the cabanas.

 

[Cfabar1]

They are not expensive enough, that is a big part of the problem.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

They are not expensive enough, that is a big part of the problem.

One of the few times I have ever read here that Disney is too cheap, but after thinking about it, yes, they are a value when compared to what the other cruise lines charge for their cabanas.

you didnt lose much. We did a cabana at lighthouse point and frankly they are so isolated and unless you are talking about an adult cabana, you have to take a 15 minute golf cart ride to the other side of the island to get anywhere. also no dressing area or hamocks or floatation devices in the cabanas.

Agree to disagree. But then, I was in an adult cabana. Our beach was amazing and the swimming great. A bar was steps away, but then, who had to step when there was an iPad to order the drinks and have them delivered? Plenty of chairs. I didn't miss the hammock. And there are no floatation devices island wide for environmental reasons. I liked how clean and modern they were. Yes, there were not as big as Castaway's, no curtained off tiny closet, but they really enjoyed the deck furniture.