Tricks to get a Cabana?

[DianaMB333]

Hi
I’m “only” silver and no concierge booking… so I know that getting a Cabanna might be very hard… but still …

Is there any trick to try to get one?
I.e crazy refresh button at 12am midnight 72hrs before the cruise? (Just in case someone cancels)

Or waitlisting?

Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi
I’m “only” silver and no concierge booking… so I know that getting a Cabanna might be very hard… but still …

Is there any trick to try to get one?
I.e crazy refresh button at 12am midnight 72hrs before the cruise? (Just in case someone cancels)

Or waitlisting?

Thanks!

No wait list for cabanas. Frequent checking of activities site works the best. And, check with the Port Adventures desk as soon as you board.

 

[Cheburashka]

Hi
I’m “only” silver and no concierge booking… so I know that getting a Cabanna might be very hard… but still …

Is there any trick to try to get one?
I.e crazy refresh button at 12am midnight 72hrs before the cruise? (Just in case someone cancels)

Or waitlisting?

Thanks!

Might be very hard? Trying as hard as you can, you would still need a lot of luck to get a cabana as a non-concierge guest (silver, gold or even platinum status rarely matters anymore, as the cabanas are usually all taken by concierge).

You can get one by lucking into it by checking again and again on the DCL website, because occasionally people drop reservations and cancel. If you join a social media group for your cruise, you might get word when a cabana randomly becomes available. You can also get on the waitlist when you board the ship. All of these are long shots, but they're really the only chance you have of getting one. And you'll have competition with other guests doing the same things.

 

[Marc D]

Cabana reservations do not cancel automatically at a set time, so there’s no need to refresh to grab one. You can stalk the page up until your cruise, then go to Guest services once you board to get put on the waitlist.

That waitlist is handled by the concierge team. If they have extra cabanas, either because a concierge guest that booked one says he doesn’t want it when he gets onboard or because they keep two in reserve, they’ll offer them to other concierge guests during the embarkation meet. If they can’t allocate them all to concierge guests, they then use the Guest services waitlist.

The waitlist is your best shot, but your odds are slim to none. There are 17 regular cabanas and 875 or 1250 staterooms on the current ships. On Wish, they will raise the number of Concierge staterooms, making it even harder to get a cabana.

 

[randumb0]

A cabana is a mythical thing mentioned in ancient folklore

 

[Starwind]

We have gotten a cabana multiple times, using the following methods:

(1) Stalking the website; most days checking once or twice a day and getting lucky and during one of the checks a cabana is available and we are able to grab it. We got one for our very first DCL cruise this way at about 20 days out, and for another cruise further out. Both times the cabana was on the adult beach.

(2) our last 3 cruises were a B2B2B on the Dream, which meant boarding first with the other B2B's for the second and third cruise. We immediately went to guest services and got added to the cabana wait list. We did not get one for the second cruise (we had been second in the GS line), but did for the third (we had been first in the GS line). This time the cabana was on the family beach.

(3) for one cruise, another party in the FB group for the cruise was sailing concierge and had gotten a cabana on the family beach; they offered to share the cabana and split the cost and we took them up on the offer.

We've sailed 8 cruises, so half our cruises we've had a cabana.

 

[MomOTwins]

Something to consider—if concierge rooms are unsold as of the day of sailing, an upgrade to those rooms is offered at the port for a steeply discounted price. Upgrading to concierge at the port would mean you can get ahead of the guest service waitlist in priority. Obviously that is costly, but leas so than booking concierge from day one.

 

[JM_97]

Be rich.

 

[kathi]

If you are sailing on the Wish - I would say you have zero chance without being in concierge (not sure how they are prioritizing those, but I imagine the more expensive cabins have first dibs). If you are sailing on Magic or Fantasy, it's still going to be close to impossible. We are platinum and used to be able to get one by being first on at midnight. That has not happened in 5 years or so. When we book concierge, we have gotten a cabana. The only time I think you have a good shot when not in concierge is on a double dip. Often times on the second day at Castaway, concierge folks give up their cabana and if you are on a wait list, it could happen.

If you really want a cabana, go on the Magic or the Fantasy in a suite. That is your best shot.

 

[DianaMB333]

Thanks for the comments… we are going in the Wish so… LOL …

 

[lcarter0922]

If you are sailing on the Wish - I would say you have zero chance without being in concierge (not sure how they are prioritizing those, but I imagine the more expensive cabins have first dibs). If you are sailing on Magic or Fantasy, it's still going to be close to impossible. We are platinum and used to be able to get one by being first on at midnight. That has not happened in 5 years or so. When we book concierge, we have gotten a cabana. The only time I think you have a good shot when not in concierge is on a double dip. Often times on the second day at Castaway, concierge folks give up their cabana and if you are on a wait list, it could happen.

If you really want a cabana, go on the Magic or the Fantasy in a suite. That is your best shot.

If you are concierge, you are given a date to email with your request. You have to send it at midnight on the dot and they are prioritized by the time stamp and the order they come in. No priority for the type of concierge room you are staying in, just the time they receive your request email.

 

[Intr3pid]

Best shot? Cruise when guest numbers are low. Like in a pandemic. On our January cruise, three of them went unsold.

 

[LambertLion]

I'm on the wait list at (what I'm being told as #1) for our concierge cruise on the Wish in July. I'm not very hopeful at this point. But either way, it'll be a great cruise. No good tips to share. We got one our last cruise, but we were concierge and got our request in at 12:00 on the dot for them taking names.

 

[Trera]

I'm on the wait list at (what I'm being told as #1) for our concierge cruise on the Wish in July. I'm not very hopeful at this point. But either way, it'll be a great cruise. No good tips to share. We got one our last cruise, but we were concierge and got our request in at 12:00 on the dot for them taking names.

Keep in mind that if your request gets to DCL before midnight on THEIR CLOCK, your request will go to the end of the line.

Also, not sure how anyone knows how long it takes their email to be received by DCL once they hit send? First of all, you have to sync your clock with that of the one on the Concierge computer (not sure how you do this?). Then you have to send your email at Midnight on the dot but if your email takes 30 seconds or more to get through the servers on either end...........there is a chance other's emails are getting through before yours (no way to know how long it takes DCL to receive your email once you hit send).

There is definitely no way to get it perfect. There has to be some luck involved also.

 

[Marc D]

I'm on the wait list at (what I'm being told as #1) for our concierge cruise on the Wish in July. I'm not very hopeful at this point. But either way, it'll be a great cruise. No good tips to share. We got one our last cruise, but we were concierge and got our request in at 12:00 on the dot for them taking names.

Your odds are actually very good. They keep 16 and 17 in their back pocket for onboard bookings by Concierge guests.

 

[kathi]

If you are concierge, you are given a date to email with your request. You have to send it at midnight on the dot and they are prioritized by the time stamp and the order they come in. No priority for the type of concierge room you are staying in, just the time they receive your request email.

I sail concierge fairly regularly - I'm pretty certain the people in the Walt and Roy suites don't have to wonder if they are going to get a cabana. (We have never been those people, so I'm not 100% sure.)

 

[lcarter0922]

I sail concierge fairly regularly - I'm pretty certain the people in the Walt and Roy suites don't have to wonder if they are going to get a cabana. (We have never been those people, so I'm not 100% sure.)

We are on the Wish sailing and someone in our Facebook group is in the tower suite and is quite upset they sent in a request at 12am and didnt get a cabana. Because it started a whole conversation of how unfair it was that he paid all that money and was not guaranteed a cabana. He said he thought with the suite and a midnight email it would be a sure thing. While many of us were in lower category concierge and obtained cabanas.

 

[kathi]

We are on the Wish sailing and someone in our Facebook group is in the tower suite and is quite upset they sent in a request at 12am and didnt get a cabana. Because it started a whole conversation of how unfair it was that he paid all that money and was not guaranteed a verandah. He said he thought with the suite and a midnight email it would be a sure thing.

Interesting and good to know - thanks for that report.

 

[LambertLion]

Keep in mind that if your request gets to DCL before midnight on THEIR CLOCK, your request will go to the end of the line.

Also, not sure how anyone knows how long it takes their email to be received by DCL once they hit send? First of all, you have to sync your clock with that of the one on the Concierge computer (not sure how you do this?). Then you have to send your email at Midnight on the dot but if your email takes 30 seconds or more to get through the servers on either end...........there is a chance other's emails are getting through before yours (no way to know how long it takes DCL to receive your email once you hit send).

There is definitely no way to get it perfect. There has to be some luck involved also.

I know. I got it right last time. This time there were complications. We were on board a cruise when we got notice the window changed about a couple hours Before the window opened (when they went to 5 days earlier) and then I couldn’t get the internet to work on my phone to have the email send at midnight. Best we could do was have the concierge team try to contact next morning, but they told us we they couldn’t do anything about it and we’d be at the top of the waitlist.