Castaway Cay Grand Cabana - Family beach #21

[Jillikins]

Bumping to see if anyone has stayed in Grand Cabana #21 recently. I've scoured DIS, CC, youtube, Google, and can hardly find any photos and no videos. Any help is appreciated!

Specifically interested to know: is the water swimmable off the cabana? Is it full of jellyfish? My kids will freak out at the sight of them and won't get in the water.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Just had the grand with our group of ladies on the 9/14 Dream.

Yes, the water is swimmable in the lagoon in front. The beach is tiny tiny, pretty much shared with your neighbor next door. We did see some jellyfish pretty far out in the afternoon but nobody was stung miserably. We just all came back in closer to our cabana. I have pics but can't post them for another few days. We're in the middle of an 1100 mile drive home from our Norwegian cruise we took the day after the Dream. I'll get back here with some pics for you as soon as I can get settled back at home.

 

[delauzons]

We just stayed in it . We loved it! It is huge! We did see a jelly fish and many other rather large fish. We had on the sealice preventative lotion.
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[LoveKermit]

How big is your group and when are you sailing?

We were a group of 14 on the sold-out Wonder over spring break. One family had reserved a regular cabana but then realized sharing it (as in...you get wristbands for the capacity of the cabana) was not going to work, she went to cancel it when we got on the ship. Of course, she didn't realize there was a 3-day prior cancellation policy. The girl helping her disappears (as all pixie dust seems to happen behind closed doors) and came back and asked if we would prefer the family/double cabana. We split it four ways and had a great time. But we called over and over and were told there was no availability. I think they were holding it until embarkation day.

The service is as you will read in reviews. They are very nice. They are slow to come when you ring and slow to bring drinks. The walk to the bathroom and lunch wasn't bad--use the path in front of the cabanas, not the beach. We had trouble finding someone to drive us down there and walked too far. But we were off the ship very early.

As far as the lagoon, it was pretty shallow until later when the tide came in. I did not swim in it. The kids found a conch in its shell. They lost it after lunch, found a new one and the old one. They had a great time near the water rather than in.

Good luck!

 

[Jillikins]

Fantastic photos, thanks! Keep 'em coming.

We are a group of 11, sailing next February. We did the same itinerary in Feb 2014 and jellyfish weren't an issue at all, including sea lice. Hoping for a similar experience next February, except this time we want the cabana!

 

[shortkathleen]

I just booked cabana 21 for 4 of us. I didn't realize it was a Grand Cabana so I just went back online to see if I could change it and of course there are not other ones available BUT #21 is still showing up as an option to book. Does that mean we will be sharing it with another family?

 

[delauzons]

No-I called DCL about this for my September cruise. It is only showing for you to book. Since you can modify it they said. It was wonderful! Worth every penny.

 

[John Dapper]

Couple of questions about cabana #21 as I booked it for a cruise coming up in a few months.

1) How far are the restrooms from this cabana? How far is food?
2) Do you feel too close to your neighbors in the other cabanas nearby?
3) If we have over 10 people and two of the travellers are little ones under 3 years old is Disney going to charge the extra person fee for these little ones, or will they turn a blind eye?
4) I know my kids really want to check out the crab races (which are far from this cabana). Do they provide any type of shuttle around Castaway Cay for Cabana guests?
5) Do you feel renting this cabana is worth the hefty $960+ price tag?

 

[delauzons]

Ok-I will try and answer your questions. We had the grand cabana in September. We had 13 people and it was the highlight of our cruise. We felt it was money well spent and would jump at it again.
1. It was a far walk to the bathrooms. They told us ones are being built closer but not sure about it. The food, soft serve, and drink machines were near the bathrooms also.
2. We saw neighbors for about an hour. We had the whole cabana area to ourselves for the majority of the day.
3. We were charged the extra fee for going over the 10. Our youngest in our group was 4. We did not have anyone under 3.
4. There is a buzzer in the cabana. They will drive you in a golf cart anywhere you want to go. When we got to the island and checked in for the cabana the golf cart drove us to it. When my bigger kids wanted to snorkel the golf cart drove them to the other snorkeling area.

 

[Disneyfanaddict]

When do you pay for the cabana?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

When do you pay for the cabana?

It's charged to your onboard account, just like other excursions.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If we have over 10 people and two of the travellers are little ones under 3 years old is Disney going to charge the extra person fee for these little ones, or will they turn a blind eye?

Last I knew everyone (regardless of age) counts. But under 2 isn't charged. That may have changed. So, you may only be allowed 10 people max, but only charged for 9.

 

[Tasmen]

1. It was a far walk to the bathrooms. They told us ones are being built closer but not sure about it. The food, soft serve, and drink machines were near the bathrooms also.

On this.. they have now added bathrooms right by cabana #16. The walk is a short one from #21 (we stayed there last week).

 

[Emsabems]

How close is #21 to the pelican bay water feature????

 

[sweetpee_1993]

How close is #21 to the pelican bay water feature????

#21 is the farthest family cabana from Pelican Plunge. Still, relatively speaking, it's not super far. I wouldn't send a child over that far unaccompanied. There's a family beach between the Plunge & cabana beach. Then the grand cabana is tucked the furthest back by the little lagoon.

 

[Emsabems]

Thanks Sweetpea - you answered the question I asked AND the question I intended to ask!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Thanks Sweetpea - you answered the question I asked AND the question I intended to ask!

Glad to help. I tried to imagine why someone would be interested in how far away the Pelican Plunge slides are from a specific location.