Cabana Club Review

I am posting a full review of the cruise on the main site but thought readers of this board may appreciate more details about the Cabana Club on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Although our impressions of the ship overall were lessened by quality of food and beverage, the Cabana Club was the highlight of our onboard experience.

For a 12-day cruise, I paid $500 for one of the Deck 11 Cabanas featuring two lounge chairs, a table and chairs, and an ocean view. Ours had a large glass wall facing the ocean. A few were available with an open-air view of the Lido pool, which made for a cooler but slightly less scenic experience. If you rent toward the front corners, you can get both a decent view and open air.

We reserved for the full voyage about two months in advance, which turned out not to be necessary. Our trip was a Mediterranean itinerary that was heavily port-intensive. Even on our two sea days, the cabanas were only about 40% occupied. It seemed there was only one other couple who, like us, rented a cabana for the entire trip. I imagine that on voyages with more sea days and fewer interesting ports, the cabanas are much fuller.

Two attendants serve the area between about 9-5 most days, depending on how many people are using the cabanas. Toward the end of the trip, it seemed like the attendants were on duty less, but they were always incredibly friendly and helpful, and the cabanas are about one minute away from the Crow's Nest Bar, so you are never without easy access to beverages.

Although the stated hours are 9-5, you are not restricted to using the cabana during those times--it just means you will not have servers present if you go earlier or later. For example, we ate dinner in our cabana one evening and often stayed long past closing time. You can also use the cabana to view sailaways. Within the Cabana Club deck area, there is a little spot at the top of a stairway where 3-4 people can stand to get a great view of both port and starboard sides at the same time. It was a great way to avoid the crowds.

As other posters have written, we did receive the complimentary champagne and chocolate strawberries each day around 4 p.m. Bottled water and a fruit basket were waiting for us every morning, and the attendants would bring additional bottled water (no charge) if you ran out during the day. On the first day, we also received Evian spray misters. Those were not automatically in the cabana on subsequent days, but they would be provided on request (again no charge).

For lunch, the attendants would bring you food from the Dive In (burgers and hot dogs), pizza restaurant, or the Lido buffet. They present you with menus for all three of these options each day. Similarly, they will bring you drinks and cocktails when requested.

For us, the cabana was well worth the expense. If you enjoy reading and prefer to avoid crowds, it is definitely something to consider. To save costs in the future, I would even consider booking an oceanview room but then reserving a cabana given that we used the cabana far more than our veranda cabin's balcony.

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures, but I've seen a few others in these threads that all accurately portray the area.

Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoyed the cabanas. I agree completely with your review. We love them and will book them over and over in the future.

thanks so much for this comprehensive post. You have answered all of my questions. For the first time, we have reserved a cabana for our 19 day Panama Canal cruise next April on the NA. Cant wait!! There is a lot of conflicting info out there as to which cabanas are located where. It would appear that we have the Portofino. Any chance you remember which of the open air ones would be next to the family cabanas? I imagine they are the ones you said would be a little more scenic. I am thrilled to learn that we could still stay there past 5 o'clock. I had thought otherwise. We love peace and quiet. :)

Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoyed the cabanas. I agree completely with your review. We love them and will book them over and over in the future.

Also agree totally. A ship with cabanas is a very high priority for us as we plan cruises.

Love the cabanas!

Op, did they have a cabana dinner on your cruise? The reason I ask is because sometimes they boot you out of there about 3:30 so they can get ready for it.

Love the cabanas!

 

Op, did they have a cabana dinner on your cruise? The reason I ask is because sometimes they boot you out of there about 3:30 so they can get ready for it.

Yes, good point. There was a cabana dinner one night ($129/pp, so I didn't go). I headed over to the cabana around 4:00, and they were already removing lounge chairs in ours. They scheduled the cabana dinner on a day that we had other things going on, so it was not too much of an interruption.

thanks so much for this comprehensive post. You have answered all of my questions. For the first time, we have reserved a cabana for our 19 day Panama Canal cruise next April on the NA. Cant wait!! There is a lot of conflicting info out there as to which cabanas are located where. It would appear that we have the Portofino. Any chance you remember which of the open air ones would be next to the family cabanas? I imagine they are the ones you said would be a little more scenic. I am thrilled to learn that we could still stay there past 5 o'clock. I had thought otherwise. We love peace and quiet. :)

Congrats, that will be a great experience for 19 days! I'm not positive where I saw Portofino. The map in this thread is from 2011 so may not be completely right, but it does correctly show the location of the cabana I had this month (Rhodes).

Because they were empty and I was curious for future cruises, I did walk into the open-air cabanas to see how the view was. The closer you are to the corner, the better, but even the ones in the middle aren't bad if you're standing right against the railing. But from your lounge chairs you would just be looking at the pool area and, across from there, the Silk Den windows.

Yes, you can definitely stay past 5:00. I was concerned about the same thing before our cruise and was pleasantly surprised. I was out there till dark at least twice. Crew members saw me, and no one ever said anything about it. Our steward even let us know when he was leaving for the night in case we wanted another drink to enjoy after he left.

Another thing I forgot to mention: You'll see printed somewhere that they only serve lunch in the cabanas from noon-2. In fact, that's just if you want Lido food. They'll keep bringing burgers, hot dogs, and pizza until 5.

Yes, good point. There was a cabana dinner one night ($129/pp, so I didn't go). I headed over to the cabana around 4:00, and they were already removing lounge chairs in ours. They scheduled the cabana dinner on a day that we had other things going on, so it was not too much of an interruption.

Thx for the answer.

thanks again, Red Butler. Good to know about the lunch availability. I have made notes.

I look forward to your full review!

HAL's cabanas are a deal. We have a family trip booked on Celebrity and they charge $149 per day for sea days, and $99 per day for port days. Meals delivered to your cabana are an up charge, and there's no dedicated cabanas-only sunning area. A 7 day cabana on Holland America is $499. On X, it's $943. The HAL cabanas have dedicated attendants. The ones on Celebrity have attendants available by telephone.

I'm sure that I'll be persona non grata with the Celebrity fanatics, but Holland America's shipboard cabana offering not only takes Celebrity's offering to school. It also takes it to the playground, picks a fight, beats it up, and steals its lunch money.

Thanks for posting your comments about the Cabana.

Lots of good detailed information.

Happy you enjoyed it so much.

I am posting a full review of the cruise on the main site but thought readers of this board may appreciate more details about the Cabana Club on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Although our impressions of the ship overall were lessened by quality of food and beverage, the Cabana Club was the highlight of our onboard experience.

 

For a 12-day cruise, I paid $500 for one of the Deck 11 Cabanas featuring two lounge chairs, a table and chairs, and an ocean view. Ours had a large glass wall facing the ocean. A few were available with an open-air view of the Lido pool, which made for a cooler but slightly less scenic experience. If you rent toward the front corners, you can get both a decent view and open air.

 

We reserved for the full voyage about two months in advance, which turned out not to be necessary. Our trip was a Mediterranean itinerary that was heavily port-intensive. Even on our two sea days, the cabanas were only about 40% occupied. It seemed there was only one other couple who, like us, rented a cabana for the entire trip. I imagine that on voyages with more sea days and fewer interesting ports, the cabanas are much fuller.

 

Two attendants serve the area between about 9-5 most days, depending on how many people are using the cabanas. Toward the end of the trip, it seemed like the attendants were on duty less, but they were always incredibly friendly and helpful, and the cabanas are about one minute away from the Crow's Nest Bar, so you are never without easy access to beverages.

 

Although the stated hours are 9-5, you are not restricted to using the cabana during those times--it just means you will not have servers present if you go earlier or later. For example, we ate dinner in our cabana one evening and often stayed long past closing time. You can also use the cabana to view sailaways. Within the Cabana Club deck area, there is a little spot at the top of a stairway where 3-4 people can stand to get a great view of both port and starboard sides at the same time. It was a great way to avoid the crowds.

 

As other posters have written, we did receive the complimentary champagne and chocolate strawberries each day around 4 p.m. Bottled water and a fruit basket were waiting for us every morning, and the attendants would bring additional bottled water (no charge) if you ran out during the day. On the first day, we also received Evian spray misters. Those were not automatically in the cabana on subsequent days, but they would be provided on request (again no charge).

 

For lunch, the attendants would bring you food from the Dive In (burgers and hot dogs), pizza restaurant, or the Lido buffet. They present you with menus for all three of these options each day. Similarly, they will bring you drinks and cocktails when requested.

 

For us, the cabana was well worth the expense. If you enjoy reading and prefer to avoid crowds, it is definitely something to consider. To save costs in the future, I would even consider booking an oceanview room but then reserving a cabana given that we used the cabana far more than our veranda cabin's balcony.

 

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures, but I've seen a few others in these threads that all accurately portray the area.

Thank you for the details of the Cabana Club.

HAL's cabanas are a deal. We have a family trip booked on Celebrity and they charge $149 per day for sea days, and $99 per day for port days. Meals delivered to your cabana are an up charge, and there's no dedicated cabanas-only sunning area. A 7 day cabana on Holland America is $499. On X, it's $943. The HAL cabanas have dedicated attendants. The ones on Celebrity have attendants available by telephone.

 

I'm sure that I'll be persona non grata with the Celebrity fanatics, but Holland America's shipboard cabana offering not only takes Celebrity's offering to school. It also takes it to the playground, picks a fight, beats it up, and steals its lunch money.

 

Thank you for describing the differences between HAL's and Celebrity's cabanas.

HAL's cabanas are a deal. We have a family trip booked on Celebrity and they charge $149 per day for sea days, and $99 per day for port days. Meals delivered to your cabana are an up charge, and there's no dedicated cabanas-only sunning area. A 7 day cabana on Holland America is $499. On X, it's $943. The HAL cabanas have dedicated attendants. The ones on Celebrity have attendants available by telephone.

 

I'm sure that I'll be persona non grata with the Celebrity fanatics, but Holland America's shipboard cabana offering not only takes Celebrity's offering to school. It also takes it to the playground, picks a fight, beats it up, and steals its lunch money.

 

Aren't the cabanas just $300 for 7 days? ($449 for the large Family cabana?)

Aren't the cabanas just $300 for 7 days? ($449 for the large Family cabana?)

Sorry. Our pricing was for up to 14 days. My bad.

luv them, luv them, luv them, iv been on both the NA and Eurodam,s cabanas -- that way I don't have to get a veranda, (which I find very lonely since I travel solo)

luv them, luv them, luv them, iv been on both the NA and Eurodam,s cabanas -- that way I don't have to get a veranda, (which I find very lonely since I travel solo)

We've had cabanas on NA and were wondering if Eurodam has the loungers and table/chairs in each cabana?

We've had cabanas on NA and were wondering if Eurodam has the loungers and table/chairs in each cabana?

I know you didn't ask me but yes they do.

HAL's cabanas are a deal. We have a family trip booked on Celebrity and they charge $149 per day for sea days, and $99 per day for port days. Meals delivered to your cabana are an up charge, and there's no dedicated cabanas-only sunning area. A 7 day cabana on Holland America is $499. On X, it's $943. The HAL cabanas have dedicated attendants. The ones on Celebrity have attendants available by telephone.

 

I'm sure that I'll be persona non grata with the Celebrity fanatics, but Holland America's shipboard cabana offering not only takes Celebrity's offering to school. It also takes it to the playground, picks a fight, beats it up, and steals its lunch money.

 

Thank you for the belly laugh. After a tough and disappointing day, I really needed it. [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

For those cabana fans out there, would you still take one if you had port days 7 of the 12 days and wanted to see those ports?

For those cabana fans out there, would you still take one if you had port days 7 of the 12 days and wanted to see those ports?

Absolutely. DW requires one.

Absolutely. DW requires one.

Thank you!

Thanks for sharing your report.

Keith

I know you didn't ask me but yes they do.

Thank you cruz chic. The reason I asked is because the size seems a bit smaller than on NA.