Casabella seat count must equal # people on room rez?

[Perdita&Pongo]

I called to book casabellas for our trip and was told by the cast member that you have to book for the number of people on your room reservation. In other words, if you have 2 on the room rez, then you can book 1 casabella. If you have 3 or 4 on the room rez then you have to book 2 casabellas. 5 or 6 peeps then 3 casabellas.



In all the reading I’ve done researching for our trip, I haven’t heard of this! We are 4 adults (my husband and I, with our 2 adult daughters). What if 2 of us want to lay by the pool/beach but the other 2 are off exploring the island?



I suppose I can understand why they have this rule (so you’re not jamming 4 people in a 2-seater), but I think what surprised me more is that I hadn’t read about this at all on these boards or other places I’ve been reading about Aulani! Why is this news to me?

 

[VGCgroupie]

Interesting. I am now realizing I booked only for amount of people on my reservation both my trips. They have made changes to how casabellas and cabanas are booked recently, maybe this is another new change.

 

[WinterSolider]

I suppose I can understand why they have this rule (so you’re not jamming 4 people in a 2-seater), but I think what surprised me more is that I hadn’t read about this at all on these boards or other places I’ve been reading about Aulani! Why is this news to me?

I haven't heard of this either, but I would suspect that the reverse might be a bigger issue. Book a studio for 2 people and invite your friends who aren't staying at Aulani at all to hang out in your 12 person cabana.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I haven't heard of this either, but I would suspect that the reverse might be a bigger issue. Book a studio for 2 people and invite your friends who aren't staying at Aulani at all to hang out in your 12 person cabana.

Yeah I agree I can see this being a problem.

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

I haven't heard of this either, but I would suspect that the reverse might be a bigger issue. Book a studio for 2 people and invite your friends who aren't staying at Aulani at all to hang out in your 12 person cabana.

So let me add to what I posted the CM said: she said you could book a cabana or Casabella for more than the number on your reservation, but not less. So in other words, my rez for 4 people could reserve the lower veranda Casabellas that seat six. But I couldn’t reserve a single Casabella that seats two because I have 4 in my room so I have to reserve something that seats four or more. I hope that makes sense.

In your example, the studio for 2 could book a cabana for 12. But they wouldn’t have pool wristbands for everybody, so what fun would that be?

Edit: corrected upper veranda to lower veranda

 

[VGCgroupie]

So let me add to what I posted the CM said: she said you could book a cabana or Casabella for more than the number on your reservation, but not less. So in other words, my rez for 4 people could reserve the upper veranda Casabellas that seat six. But I couldn’t reserve a single Casabella that seats two because I have 4 in my room so I have to rreserve something that seats four or more. I hope that makes sense.

In your example, the studio for 2 could book a cabana for 12. But they wouldn’t have pool wristbands for everybody, so what fun would that be?

ahh yes I see what you said now.

 

[welshraz]

Will this be a problem if people on two separate bookings wish to share a cabana? We are travelling with friends but our bookings are separate. We'd like to book a cabana for a few days of our stay.

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

Will this be a problem if people on two separate bookings wish to share a cabana? We are travelling with friends but our bookings are separate. We'd like to book a cabana for a few days of our stay.

The info I gave was specifically for casabellas, so I don’t know if/how that might apply to cabanas. But the cabanas do fit bigger number of people so you should probably be fine. I would call just to be sure.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Will this be a problem if people on two separate bookings wish to share a cabana? We are travelling with friends but our bookings are separate. We'd like to book a cabana for a few days of our stay.

I would call and ask

 

[J-Dog]

The info I gave was specifically for casabellas, so I don’t know if/how that might apply to cabanas. But the cabanas do fit bigger number of people so you should probably be fine. I would call just to be sure.

Any chance that you called back to try talking to someone else, just to see if this is a repeatable policy? I've never had an issue at Aulani specifically with CMs saying erroneous things, but we all know that is rampant with call center CMs at WDW.

I've never heard of this, and it does seem like it would be an issue if multiple adults are on the same booking, but want to do different things.

I'm not sure why they would care anyway, since from what I've seen/heard, the casabellas all seem to book up most of the time anyway. It's not as if 4 people squeezing uncomfortably onto 2 chairs is screwing them out of a booking - they will book the other one either way.

 

[that1jeff]

Will this be a problem if people on two separate bookings wish to share a cabana? We are travelling with friends but our bookings are separate. We'd like to book a cabana for a few days of our stay.

Shouldn't be. We have two separate bookings as well for an upcoming trip. 7 people in a 2 bedroom, and 4 people in a hotel room on a separate booking.

I booked a 12 person cabana. (Literally the same week the cabana booking policy changes took affect). CM never asked me any details about party size or how our rooms were booked.