Castaway Cay Cabana, is it worth it?

[NCConch]

If you have the cash and you are lucky enough to score one, enjoy it! It may be one of those scenarios that if you have to ask...

 

[Tasmen]

For us, the cabana is worth it. We were lucky enough to get the Grand cabana for our cruise this coming February. We have a rather large party going and knowing we all have one place to be together is a value..for us. Like others said, value is what you make of it. What is great for us, seems a waste to others.

 

[Quellman]

For us, the cabana is worth it. We were lucky enough to get the Grand cabana for our cruise this coming February. We have a rather large party going and knowing we all have one place to be together is a value..for us. Like others said, value is what you make of it. What is great for us, seems a waste to others.

That is how I would use the cabana as well. As a great gathering space. They aren't needed for my small family.

 

[clintnelson2]

I'll be on my third Disney cruise in January. I've tried every year for a cabana and they are sold out!!! I just check because tomorrow is the first say I can book so I thought I'd stay up late and get it right when it was available. Well they are all gone!!! Again!!!

 

[cableguy123]

To be honest. I think it'd hard to score one if your not concierge. We grabbed number 5 for our up coming sail on Nov 28th but we only got it because if the concierge. I looked and they where all sold out. Good luck

 

[MickeyEarrings]

To be honest. I think it'd hard to score one if your not concierge. We grabbed number 5 for our up coming sail on Nov 28th but we only got it because if the concierge. I looked and they where all sold out. Good luck

...and I got one for our December cruise as a Silver *and* I had my choice of four!

 

[amanda ek]

Silver window just opened for our Jan 2016 cruise...4 cabanas left! Not thrilled about the walk to #18 but I'll take it!

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

3rd time getting a SB cabana for our Feb. cruise. Lucky to get #25 again! To us it's worth it. I've had skin cancer and it's nice to have the shade.

 

[NCConch]

Our kids are teens, so we do not participate in the craziness that is the pool roulette on board. For our first cruise, our TA sent us a ribbon with instructions to tie it to our umbrella on CC. I had read about the contentious battles for deck and beach chairs and the ill will fostered by people that get up early and reserve furniture that goes mostly unused. The whole concept is a huge turn-off for us. On out first cruise my wife and I took our soon to CC. He uses a wheelchair. While everything was fairly accessible, we found it to be a lot of work. He preferred to stay in the teen club. On our 2nd cruise my wife and son did not disembark at CC. Our daughter did the CC adventures with the teen club while I did a morning fishing trip and then checked out SB. I would have used a hammock but there were none available. Our daughter is now 18, so we have secured a cabana on SB. It will be nice knowing that we do not need to hunt down and secure furniture.

 

[Tasmen]

...It will be nice knowing that we do not need to hunt down and secure furniture.

Some hunts are fun. The furniture 'please please please give me a place to put my stuff' hunt not so much. So grateful to have our cabana for this amongst other reasons.

 

[RebelHawk]

We just got back from our 30 Oct sailing on the Dream. The weather was very warm in the afternoon and we really enjoyed relaxing in our cabana on that day. I took a full run of photos of cabana 9 and will post once we get caught up with real world post vacation responsibilities.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We just got back from our 30 Oct sailing on the Dream. The weather was very warm in the afternoon and we really enjoyed relaxing in our cabana on that day. I took a full run of photos of cabana 9 and will post once we get caught up with real world post vacation responsibilities.

Ahhh... cabana #9.

 

[RebelHawk]

Ahhh... cabana #9.

Yeah, since December is going to be our last Disney cruise for awhile I was tempted to spell out the exact reasons why we feel this is the "best" cabana. On the other hand I didn't want to spoil it for everyone else that likes to request this one. I'll get those pictures posted and let people decide on their own.

 

[SSRFred]

I'll be on my third Disney cruise in January. I've tried every year for a cabana and they are sold out!!! I just check because tomorrow is the first say I can book so I thought I'd stay up late and get it right when it was available. Well they are all gone!!! Again!!!

Keep checking. On our last cruise they were sold out at the opening of our silver window to book, but about a month later one became available and we booked it.

 

[Alabama GiGi]

I was lucky and someone in our cruise group cancelled cabana #8 and let me know so I could snag it for our January trip. I feel fortunate since this is our first cruise and thankful for our cruise meet board!

 

[wajones2]

Just back from a double dip to Castaway and had Cabana #7 both days. This was our 3rd and 4th times to have a cabana, and so I guess you would say we think yes the Cabanas are worth it. Although we spent far less time inside the cabana this trip vs. the first two cruises when DD was younger, we still enjoyed the near empty beach, and knowing the other families next to us by name. Having the concierge and concierge staff pop by to check on us and deliver drink orders is also nice. None of these things are a MUST have to have a nice day, so if you can't get a cabana or you can't afford a cabana I wouldn't it weigh for a moment on your mind.

I am not sure anyone will ever have the same exact idea of worth in regards to the Cabanas, and all I can tell you is that if you can afford it and you can get one then I say why not? If you can't, no worries Castaway is a beautiful fun beach...if it's not your cup of tea stay on the ship and have great fun there!

 

[ladypiph]

I'll be on my third Disney cruise in January. I've tried every year for a cabana and they are sold out!!! I just check because tomorrow is the first say I can book so I thought I'd stay up late and get it right when it was available. Well they are all gone!!! Again!!!

Which ship are you going on?

 

[ladypiph]

I see some form of this question many times here on the DIS. "Is it worth it?" "What's the point?" "Can I enjoy CC without one?" etc.... I also see statements that "they are way overpriced." That is what I want to focus on. Not the "worth" of it meaning the pros and cons, but the actual price.

When you go to the Port Adventures page, there are actually 2 pages worth of "excursions" for Castaway Cay (24 different adventures as of this post not including a cabana). The list includes prices and length of time that the adventures last. A cabana on the Family Beach is $549 for up to 10 guests.

For my example I am going to use a family of 6 (what we are). You can do the math, I have. For our family, we can have a cabana all day for $91.50 per person. That means 8 PA's are more expensive than a cabana. Many of those 8 adventures have have no interest for our family or they have age restrictions that would leave out parts of our family. If you compare it time wise, which you will have the cabana from disembark to embark, so time could vary. Most likely you are going to get 6 hours out of your cabana at minimum. So if you double all the other PA (just to look at it from a time perspective) 12 of the PA's are now more expensive than a cabana.

In conclusion, I can not decide for you whether a cabana is right for you and your family. I can not tell you if it is "worth" it. I can not tell you if you will enjoy it. I can tell you, the more people that are in your group, the better the value of a cabana becomes. I can tell you if you look at it with the price broken down by individual, it is not as tough a pill to swallow. I can tell you some of the extrinsic value (cool wash rags, drinks, seats, shade, a hammock, "free tubes", "free bicycles", your private slice of paradise) are priceless. I do hope this does not convince a ton of you to choose a cabana so I can always get one, but I do hope it helps others to see that comparatively speaking, it is a great, great deal

As many have said it depends on your family preferences. I have tried every cruise to get one and failed . However, while it is only Myself, DH, and DS (4) we would find a cabana well worth it because DH and DS are practically fish they love the water, Me not so much, DS has eczema so sand time is limited to just a few moments here and there during the day at CC. I like to rest on vacation so having a spot that I can leave and come back to, that is also shaded (I burn pretty easily ) would be nice. But since we have yet to snag one we have only spent a few hours on CC each cruise. We still have lots of fun but ideally I would like to spend the entire time on that beautiful island. Good luck and happy planning.