Cabana worth renting on Castaway Cay??

[abbarber]

We are taking a 4 night Bahamas cruise over spring break and got a concierge level room. We can reserve things early and I hear the cabanas at Castaway Cay are often the quickest to go. We'll have an almost 7 year old and almost 3 year old. What does it cost? Is it worth it? Does anything come with it? We have never done a Disney cruise before and are rookies!! Thanks!

In addition to nursery slots, Remy/Palo, and port excursions, anything else we should sign up for way ahead of time?

 

[TestingH2O]

We loved having a cabana on CC. Having a quiet place to relax and set all of our stuff was fabulous. Included in the cabana are snacks, non alcoholic beverages, floats, bike rentals, etc.

If you have any special requests like certain teas or if you want bed rails, you can also note that with shoreside.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I think it's up to your style of relaxing on a beach. We HAVE to be in the water the majority of the time so cabanas are just not our cup of tea. They are too far away for our liking. If you have childen that need to nap or whatever then maybe.

 

[SonicGuy]

We loved it last time we were at Castaway Cay (our lat couple cruises haven't been scheduled to stop there or weren't able to because of weather). IT was around $500 for the day. Our cabana attendant was one of the Concierge staff that we had gotten to know, so she knew our soda preferences and our kids favorite snacks. It was so relaxing that at one point all 6 of us fell asleep!

 

[1Winston]

We LOVED the cabana and booked one this year again. Last year our kids were 2 and 4 and loved it. It is very relaxing and the staff is the concierge hosts and the kids adore them. Very enjoyable and I would highly recommend. I wasn't sure we would love it since we are sun bathers but it was great, the hammocks were awesome.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are taking a 4 night Bahamas cruise over spring break and got a concierge level room. We can reserve things early and I hear the cabanas at Castaway Cay are often the quickest to go. We'll have an almost 7 year old and almost 3 year old. What does it cost? Is it worth it? Does anything come with it? We have never done a Disney cruise before and are rookies!! Thanks!

In addition to nursery slots, Remy/Palo, and port excursions, anything else we should sign up for way ahead of time?

Price for a cabana on the Family Beach:
CABANAS (12/18/14 price w/Bahamas 7.5% VAT)
Family beach: $549 $590.18

Includes:
comfortable seating, a beverage refrigerator, safe, ceiling fan, plush towels and sunscreen. Outside on the patio, luxurious chaise lounge chairs, a freshwater shower, hammock and sailcloth shade. Fresh fruit and snacks are included along with complimentary bottled water and soft drinks. Dedicated beverage service is provided and alcoholic beverage packages are available for purchase onboard at an additional cost. Additionally, each cabana includes use of snorkeling equipment, floats, sand toys, and one hour of bike rental. Private cabana beach. Coppertone SPF products; selection of magazines.

 

[Little Doe]

Things you can ask for shore side -- where you would like to sit in the restaurants, a waiter you like, get things set up for you or others ( if you are linked to family) such as pack n plays, booster seats or highchairs in the restaurants, you can reserve the cabana at 12:01:01 Eastern time. On board you can get more set up at the Concierge meeting on ship right when you board --Meet and greets, Anna and Elsa, princess tea, -- can anyone think of more??

 

[Little Doe]

You can also ask for the specific cabana you would like. They reserve first come first serve - so be ready to send your email at the moment it opens.

 

[Little Doe]

also reserve Character Breakfast at the meeting on board and if a Christmas cruise reserve the Gingerbread House event.

 

[Jennifer777]

We were lucky enough to snag one last time we cruised and I thought it was worth it. The total after tax was just under $600. You do get bikes and tubes included in that price as well as sunscreen, bottles of water and small snacks like chips and granola bars. What I liked most about it was the comfort and convenience of it all. We didn't have to rush off the ship to find decent chairs, the towels were there so we didn't need to bring any, there's a call button inside so you can call an attendant to bring bar drinks (extra charge for the drinks) so you don't need to go fetch them yourself. We were able to bring our food back from the buffet and enjoy it in the comfort of the cabana. When the kids were done swimming they could change into dry clothes and if one of them wanted to nap, you can close the place up for extra privacy. There's a fan and it stayed surprisingly cool in there, although there was no AC. There's also a safe so you can leave your valuables in there and not have to worry about them. It is on the far end of the family beach but if you take the tram you don't have too far to walk to get the the cabana gate and they can give you a ride from there. There was a couch, two chairs, a coffee table, a mini fridge, a private hammock and comfy lounge seating on the deck on ours.

My advice would be to reserve one if you can. You can always cancel later on without having to pay anything. Also, if you actually have a choice of which one to pick, cabana 1 is closest to the barbecue place and cabana 20 (the one we had) is the on the opposite end. I would personally avoid the 18-20 as they only have a small pond size area to swim directly in front of them. Cabanas 1-17 have the main private beach in front of them and are closer to the bathrooms and BBQ place.

 

[over50visits]

All it takes is money ($590 for one on the family beach). Here are some details about what it has:

Bowl of potato chips, energy bars, fresh fruit
Stocked fridge with cold drinks and water
Electric wall plugs (for example, plug in to recharge your electronics)
Suntan lotion
Private hammock
Personal float tubes
Snorkeling equipment rental
Bike rental included
Nearby shower
Magazines
Facial tissue
Trashcan
Hanging closet
Cocktail table, sofa, two chairs inside
Call button for attendant
Overhead fan
Privacy curtains over windows
Plates
Private beach in family cabanas
There is a safe in them, just as in your onboard cabin.
You can eat lunch there (table and chairs). Your host might give you a ride to/from the buffet.
There is a changing curtain for get into/out of swimwear
A drink host will come and take your order for alcoholic drinks and bring them to you.
They provide a plate of cold, wet towels. Great for cleaning/cooling off.
Lot of chairs inside and out (on the porch) for relaxing
Once at the end of the day, our host took us from our cabana to the ship's reboarding point in his golfcart. Wow!

 

[TimeAndTide]

We always try to get one. It really depends on your family and your preferences. We have three young kids, and DH and I don't like crowds. DH doesn't really like water or sand either but humors us. Lol. We also travel with a caregiver.

With a cabana we have a home base, a fridge, a safe, a personal (open air) shower to rinse sand, a private changing area, lots of towels, plenty of seating, a private place to eat (although we have to retrieve our food first - pet peeve), some snacks, bar service, etc. They do deliver our son's allergen free food to the cabana. We can call for golf cart rides to other areas of the beach.

For us it is money well spent. It's not cheap but is in line with what we would pay for an excursion for six people. It fits in with our own personal preferences.

That said: If a family is active, social, outgoing, etc., they may not want to spend the money. If a family will spend all their time doing various activities, it may be a bit of a waste. If it's a choice between cabana or trip photos (for instance), a person might well choose photos. Like anything, it's a personal choice.

We do always place our requests early and we have a favorite cabana. Now to convince DH that we need cabanas on both legs of our next sailing which is a back to back....

 

[TimeAndTide]

Oh, and I forgot to add my personal great cabana experience. I wanted to go snorkeling at the main snorkel area so I requested a golf cart. I also planned to go back to the ship first to grab my waterproof camera which I'd forgotten. Once onboard, I realized I'd grabbed the wrong snorkel bag at the cabana and didn't have my prescription snorkel mask. I popped into the concierge lounge on the ship and mentioned my dilemma. They radioed to the island and asked someone to go to our cabana and grab my bag and take it to the cabana check in hut so I didn't have to go all the way back to the cabana. It was waiting for me when I got there.

This may all sound silly but it saved me a fair amount of time and reinforced my loyalty to the concierge and cabana experience. It's that extra mile to make my (admittedly distracted) life easier. Now if they can just get lunch menus in the cabanas, I'll be all set!

 

[waggles02673]

We always get one, for us it is worth the extra money.

 

[Pegasus928]

We had one last week at Serenity Bay - number 25. For us it was worth every penny, even though we spent half the time in the water/on the beach and half at the cabana.

 

[ladypiph]

We loved having a cabana on CC. Having a quiet place to relax and set all of our stuff was fabulous. Included in the cabana are snacks, non alcoholic beverages, floats, bike rentals, etc.

If you have any special requests like certain teas or if you want bed rails, you can also note that with shoreside.

Can you pre order alcoholic beverages? Or bottles of wine?

 

[TestingH2O]

Can you pre order alcoholic beverages? Or bottles of wine?

You can pre-order buckets of beer for sure. Not sure about wine. There is bar service to the cabanas too, so you can play it by ear and see what appeals to you.

 

[ldo]

never gotten one--don't see a need. We get 4 loungers and an umbrella 2nd row up from the beach near where the snorkeling starts. If kids were younger, I would get chairs/umbrella on the 1st row to be within arms reach. We have never had an issue gettting chairs/shade at peak, crowded times, like Easter. We take only nonvaluables with us and just leave in a beach bag. We rent a couple of floats or rings and bring some sand toys from home. Our kids play in the water/sand or we relax under our umbrella and then get our free lunch over at the BBQ. We also get bikes and ride around the island for an hour. We've been 4X and always had a great day and never gotten a cabana. For a 7 and 3 yr old, consider taking goggles or an eyes only mask and have them float with you while you snorkel and put their face in to see fish. Less intimidating than trying to snorkel. At those ages, our kids really liked the kids clubs on the private island a lot. DH ate a quick breakfast and got our chairs for the day and came back to the boat (the 1st cruise, after that we just met him at the same umbrella--still chairs/shade at 11 am), checked the kids into the kids club, then we snorkeled, relaxed, picked up the kids, ate lunch, then did family time at the beach for the afternoon. Total paradise, can't imagine needing a cabana. We have rented cabanas on other islands, like Grand Cayman at crowded times, so we would definitely rent one if I saw a need for privacy, space, shade, etc.
For the Bahamas, I would sign up for an excursion--whatever you like. Many like Blue lagoon. We usually go over to the Sheraton (now Melia) and get a day pass on our own. Many also just walk to the British Colonial Hilton and get a day pass. I would spend my $$ on an excursion in Nassau rather than a cabana.
make sure to check the navigator about when to get tickets to character meets. I almost missed it--the 1st one was 2-4 on embarkation day.

 

[DCLDVC1]

Wouldn't go to Castaway Cay without getting one.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wouldn't go to Castaway Cay without getting one.

I would.