Castaway Cay Cabana for two?

[goofy4prez]

My wife and I will be on the Disney Dream in December for 5 nights in a concierge suite and plan to live it up on this cruise before we do our big 10-night cruise with Regent Seven Seas in March 2023. Three years of pent-up frustration and multiple cruises canceled are in full play here. LOL. We will do Remy (twice if I can get it), Palo for brunch and dinner, and we were both thinking of trying to get a cabana on Castaway Cay. My question is what are your thoughts out there on a cabana just for two people only on the family beach rather than Serenity Bay or any cabana for that matter? We love the location of the family beach over Serenity Bay and its proximity to everything. Cost is not an issue for us. I have 2K in rewards points from my Disney Visa card, and we also have an OBC of $300 from Dreams Unlimited for using them. I fully plan on using up all those points on this trip. I appreciate any input and advice. Thanks all!

 

[OKW Lover]

we were both thinking of trying to get a cabana on Castaway Cay. My question is what are your thoughts out there on a cabana just for two people only on the family beach rather than Serenity Bay or any cabana for that matter?

You'll find a cabana anywhere is nice. We have had them on both the family beach (just a couple of months ago) and the adult beach (a few years ago) and they are essentially the same. So the decision comes down to which beach you would prefer to be on. FWIW, we didn't find the family beach cabana to be particularly noisy or over-run with children and it does have a gorgeous view of the ship.

Also, as a Concierge guest you should have no problem getting a cabana. When the shore-side concierge people contact you ahead of your cruise put your request in then, along with your Palo and Remy requests.

 

[auntlynne]

What OKW Lover said. I’ve done both, only adults both times.

 

[Cheburashka]

My question is what are your thoughts out there on a cabana just for two people only on the family beach rather than Serenity Bay or any cabana for that matter? We love the location of the family beach over Serenity Bay and its proximity to everything.

If you want that and can nab one, go for it. Personally I love Serenity Bay and think you should give it a try, given that you've likely never had a cabana there before. It's so peaceful.

 

[Lorana]

Relatedly, what are the chances a month-concierge Gold member can snag a Serenity Bay cabana? My husband and I are sailing, just the two of us, in April, and we are debating getting one, but I strongly suspect there’s no chance we can get one.

 

[Cheburashka]

Relatedly, what are the chances a month-concierge Gold member can snag a Serenity Bay cabana? My husband and I are sailing, just the two of us, in April, and we are debating getting one, but I strongly suspect there’s no chance we can get one.

What do you mean by "month-concierge"? If you're concierge and booked the cruise before the concierge activities booking date, then you'll probably get one. Gold doesn't matter if you're concierge.

If this was a typo and you meant "non-concierge" then no cabanas will be available when your activities bookings open, but you might get lucky and find one that pops up randomly when someone cancels. If your cruise has a Facebook group, someone might spread the word when they notice a cabana becoming available, or if they're about to cancel one. You can also put your name on a waitlist upon boarding the ship, and you could possibly get a call offering you one if you were one of the first onboard.

 

[Pixie Dust Believer]

My mom and I have done cabanas three times just the two of us. Once was on serenity bay and twice on the family beach. We much preferred the family beach and we will stick with those cabanas in the future even if it is just the two of us.

The tipping points for us were:
1. A private beach with beach chairs. Serenity bay cabanas are set a bit off from the serenity beach area. At one point we wanted to sit out on the beach and there were no chairs available to do that.

2. Music. We enjoyed that you could play music in the family beach cabanas. I want to say there are three music channels you can choose from. We really like the island sounds

3. The concierge hosts and bartenders from the lounge are the attendants for the family beach cabanas. It was helpful to us that by the time we hit Castaway Cay had been with them for a few days and they knew how we liked our drinks. Getting service was definitely quicker on the family beach in our experience.

All of this being said, if it was serenity bay or no cabana, I would still get a serenity bay cabana. In fact, that is what we are doing for the first leg of our b2b2b in a few weeks. We weren't quick enough to get a family cabana so we will be on serenity bay for 1 leg and family beach for the last 2.

 

[Lorana]

What do you mean by "month-concierge"? If you're concierge and booked the cruise before the concierge activities booking date, then you'll probably get one. Gold doesn't matter if you're concierge.

If this was a typo and you meant "non-concierge" then no cabanas will be available when your activities bookings open, but you might get lucky and find one that pops up randomly when someone cancels. If your cruise has a Facebook group, someone might spread the word when they notice a cabana becoming available, or if they're about to cancel one. You can also put your name on a waitlist upon boarding the ship, and you could possibly get a call offering you one if you were one of the first onboard.

That was definitely an auto-correct typing error. No idea why my phone changed “non” to “month,” lol.

That’s pretty much what I figured - that they’d be gone by the time my Booking window opened. Ah, well, I’ll see if I get lucky!

 

[kfamilylovesdisney]

My mom and I have done cabanas three times just the two of us. Once was on serenity bay and twice on the family beach. We much preferred the family beach and we will stick with those cabanas in the future even if it is just the two of us.

The tipping points for us were:
1. A private beach with beach chairs. Serenity bay cabanas are set a bit off from the serenity beach area. At one point we wanted to sit out on the beach and there were no chairs available to do that.

2. Music. We enjoyed that you could play music in the family beach cabanas. I want to say there are three music channels you can choose from. We really like the island sounds

3. The concierge hosts and bartenders from the lounge are the attendants for the family beach cabanas. It was helpful to us that by the time we hit Castaway Cay had been with them for a few days and they knew how we liked our drinks. Getting service was definitely quicker on the family beach in our experience.

All of this being said, if it was serenity bay or no cabana, I would still get a serenity bay cabana. In fact, that is what we are doing for the first leg of our b2b2b in a few weeks. We weren't quick enough to get a family cabana so we will be on serenity bay for 1 leg and family beach for the last 2.

We just recently returned from sailing concierge on the Dream and trying out a Serenity Bay Cabana. The cabana was disappointing, and for us, a total waste of money. The service was poor (had to find our own cabana because the attendant was busy and told us to wait while he drove the golf cart somewhere)... um nope! I'm not standing on the runway to wait to go to the beach - wth. So we walked and found it ourselves. No golf cart to our cabana. There was water and stocked towels. No music (as described). The chairs in front of our cabana were taken and there were some kinda rude folks in those chairs. They tried to take our floats, saying they were just hanging there (on our cabana rope). One couple kept coming up to our shower and using it!! The cabana basically held our stuff and stressed us out because of the people just helping themselves to the shower and almost our floats. There was no signage to keep people out and they were aggressive people. I did not want to start a problem so I just went into the water on my float and ordered a drink lol. The waiters on the beach got our drinks, not the cabana person. We got beach chairs closer to the water and stayed there 80% of the day. The cabana person was zero help. So weird. Never again for us (it SUCKED!)

 

[Cheburashka]

The service was poor (had to find our own cabana because the attendant was busy and told us to wait while he drove the golf cart somewhere)... um nope! I'm not standing on the runway to wait to go to the beach - wth. So we walked and found it ourselves. No golf cart to our cabana. There was water and stocked towels. No music (as described). The chairs in front of our cabana were taken and there were some kinda rude folks in those chairs. They tried to take our floats, saying they were just hanging there (on our cabana rope). One couple kept coming up to our shower and using it!! The cabana basically held our stuff and stressed us out because of the people just helping themselves to the shower and almost our floats. There was no signage to keep people out and they were aggressive people. I did not want to start a problem so I just went into the water on my float and ordered a drink lol. The waiters on the beach got our drinks, not the cabana person. We got beach chairs closer to the water and stayed there 80% of the day. The cabana person was zero help.

That's unfortunate, and completely unlike my Serenity Bay cabana experience this past October. It sounds like some poorly behaved cruisers happened to be hanging out in front of your cabana, and you chose to avoid your cabana because of them. In that situation a better response would have been to alert your cabana host, who you can call by pressing the button in the cabana. He would have alerted the lifeguard for you to stop them from going into your cabana space. Toward the very end of the day when I had a Serenity Bay cabana, a departing couple started walking toward an empty neighboring cabana area (probably out of curiosity), but the lifeguard saw them and told them it was off limits, and they left. The lifeguard was very alert and had zero tolerance for that. That's what should have happened in your case.

It sounds like you would have had a golf cart ride to your cabana if you had waited for a moment for whatever your host had to do- in fact, it sounds like your whole experience would have been better if you had engaged with your host. I agree it's weird that he had to go somewhere, but who knows what it was? They will respond to the call button and take your order, take away your trash, etc., when you call them. In fact, since you say you spent "80% of the day on the water", maybe the cabana host did drop in anyway to try to engage with you, but you weren't there? I think if you'd been a bit more proactive (engaged with your cabana host and/or lifeguard when there was a problem, rather than abandoning the cabana), that guest issue would have been resolved.

The chairs on the beach are indeed public, so if you need exclusive beach chairs you're better off in a family beach cabana. I prefer the lounge chairs and hammock in the front section of the cabana, myself, because it's separated from the public area of the beach but still has a lovely view. I loved that it was so quiet (no music- yay!), and I happen to prefer lounging in a shaded hammock to lounging on a sunny beach chair. To each his own.

 

[goofy4prez]

I just wanted to follow up to my original post. Today was our 120 day window and concierge was able to give us every dining request we wanted with Palo & Remy, every tasting we wanted, our excursions, and we ended up getting a cabana on the family beach. We ended up getting cabana #3. It's just my wife and I, but we plan on having a great time! After 3 years of cancelled cruises and disappointments, I'm hoping this one goes as planned.

 

[FreeTime]

I have a follow up question. If we have a concierge cabin and a non-concierge cabin, are we able to book with us in the cabana also the non-con guest?

 

[karen4546]

I have a follow up question. If we have a concierge cabin and a non-concierge cabin, are we able to book with us in the cabana also the non-con guest?

Yes you can book the cabana and they can join you. (Up to capacity).

maybe $599 for six guest then $50 each up to 10 total-for family beach.

 

[kfamilylovesdisney]

It sounds like you would have had a golf cart ride to your cabana if you had waited for a moment for whatever your host had to do-

Perhaps, but when he told us to wait, he told us he would be about 20 minutes. We already took 2 trams to get to Serenity Bay and had been waiting for 5-10 minutes at the massage hut for our host. When he got there he wanted us to wait longer and we didn't want to so we walked ourselves there.

I think if you'd been a bit more proactive (engaged with your cabana host and/or lifeguard when there was a problem, rather than abandoning the cabana), that guest issue would have been resolved.

I didn't realize the life guards were who we should tell.

The chairs on the beach are indeed public, so if you need exclusive beach chairs you're better off in a family beach cabana. I prefer the lounge chairs and hammock in the front section of the cabana, myself, because it's separated from the public area of the beach but still has a lovely view. I loved that it was so quiet (no music- yay!), and I happen to prefer lounging in a shaded hammock to lounging on a sunny beach chair. To each his own.

That's awesome!

I guess my point is that the cabanas are so hyped up and we found them to be nothing special, and in fact kinda a waste of money and mental energy. Keep in mind we were adults (no kids with us) and I am in the water most of the time when I am on Castaway Cay AND the weather was beautiful This is good news for us because we really don't have the resources to be in a cabana every vacation anyway

 

[DCLDVC1]

I have a follow up question. If we have a concierge cabin and a non-concierge cabin, are we able to book with us in the cabana also the non-con guest?

We've shared with friends in a non-concierge cabin a few times. Just let the Concierge Host know their stateroom number, number of guests and how you want to split the cost of the cabana and they'll take care of everything.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I just wanted to follow up to my original post. Today was our 120 day window and concierge was able to give us every dining request we wanted with Palo & Remy, every tasting we wanted, our excursions, and we ended up getting a cabana on the family beach. We ended up getting cabana #3. It's just my wife and I, but we plan on having a great time! After 3 years of cancelled cruises and disappointments, I'm hoping this one goes as planned.

Congrats. I think you'll really enjoy your cabana on the family beach. It's a much better setup than Serenity Bay.