Ocean Cay Cabanas

[Rob-Bob]

Does anyone know if the cabanas at Ocean Cay are being filled up? Are people renting them?  The initial thoughts are they are not worth the money. 

 

For anyone who has been there do the cabanas seem full or empty?

 

Thanks.

[tymike]

I'm also interested in any feedback!  🙂

[js]

I rented a Beach Front YC cabana for next month and wondered this too but either way, I'll be

using one and hope I get to the island.  It is the only port we are getting off LOL

 

[GOLDENBONNY]

On 1/22/2020 at 8:42 AM, Rob-Bob said:

Does anyone know if the cabanas at Ocean Cay are being filled up? Are people renting them?  The initial thoughts are they are not worth the money. 

 

For anyone who has been there do the cabanas seem full or empty?

 

Thanks.

For sure people renting them but I can not find reason why. I don't see any need of it at all.  

[sunrise&set]

1 hour ago, js said:

I rented a Beach Front YC cabana for next month and wondered this too but either way, I'll be

using one and hope I get to the island.  It is the only port we are getting off LOL

 

Looking forward to your review and photos!  Hope you get to stop there.  We're not cruising until December but we are considering the Beach Front YC Cabana as well.

[MJC]

On our OC day we headed to Paradise Sands beach where none of the cabanas were rented. We saw very few cabanas in use at Sunset Beach as well. The lagoon beach had the most in use. We didn't visit the family cove,  YC, or Bimini. We heard later that the family cove had been closed due to a shark sighting. 

 

Our small group rented umbrellas and made our own little shade enclave, which we were very satisfied with.

[eagletwo]

We sail on the Meraviglia March 8th.  The prices we have seen for cabanas is high and we are in the YC.  We will just sit on the lounge chairs provided and enjoy the day.

[Cruising_Gals]

On 1/25/2020 at 11:39 AM, MJC said:

On our OC day we headed to Paradise Sands beach where none of the cabanas were rented. We saw very few cabanas in use at Sunset Beach as well. The lagoon beach had the most in use. We didn't visit the family cove,  YC, or Bimini. We heard later that the family cove had been closed due to a shark sighting. 

 

Our small group rented umbrellas and made our own little shade enclave, which we were very satisfied with.

 

Since there are five of us we considered renting a cabana if the rental transferred from beach to beach, which is does not ( I asked), understandably, but that would be a selling point, otherwise not worth the money to me.  We want to get around to the different beaches so it makes no sense to get a cabana if we leave it and then spend 4 or 5 hours somewhere else at another beach or two.  We got the umbrellas, glad to hear about the "shade enclave."  I assume you have to rent umbrellas at the other beaches but at $12 a pop makes more sense.

[MJC]

The umbrellas came in a pouch with a carry strap, so I suppose you could just take it with you to another beach if you wanted to move. The umbrellas have two pieces that you put together and then fit into stands that are already on the beach.

[Cruising_Gals]

9 minutes ago, MJC said:

The umbrellas came in a pouch with a carry strap, so I suppose you could just take it with you to another beach if you wanted to move. The umbrellas have two pieces that you put together and then fit into stands that are already on the beach.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info!!  

[Rob-Bob]

Well there has been almost zero feedback on the cabanas on OC.  From the videos I am seeing the cabanas appear to be used very little.  Most of them seem empty.  I am guessing that for the money almost everyone does not feel that they are worth it.

 

I have one booked but am considering cancelling and just renting a couple umbrellas to assure shade.   This will be a lot more economical and more flexible where to set up.  I am wondering if one side or area is better depending on how the wind is blowing.  

 

It looks like if you don't have a cabana booked you could just sit very near one that isn't booked (to at least get shade and shelter from wind).

 

Any feedback from folks that have been there?  

[New@Cruisin]

We were there last week and only a few cabanas were used. They are further from the beach, more in the back

[Cruising_Gals]

There will be five of us, I got 2 umbrellas, should I get a third to ensure shade?  How big are they?

[mightywabbit]

Hey 2all.... we will be on the February 28th sailing of Divina and I have a YC waterfront cabana reserved, So I just went to check now if there were any more cabanas free and all of the waterfront ones are gone... so somebody must be renting them, me aside...

[Rob-Bob]

How do you know they are all booked?  Do they not show up on the excursion list any longer?

[mightywabbit]

No they (beach cabanas) are gone from the bookable list..... (as seen on the already booked list)

Edited February 15, 2020 by mightywabbit
Additions

[mightywabbit]

56 minutes ago, Rob-Bob said:

How do you know they are all booked?  Do they not show up on the excursion list any longer?

Forgot the screenshot, that’s why the order changed...

[Cruising89143]

On 1/22/2020 at 5:42 AM, Rob-Bob said:

Does anyone know if the cabanas at Ocean Cay are being filled up? Are people renting them?  The initial thoughts are they are not worth the money. 

 

For anyone who has been there do the cabanas seem full or empty?

 

Thanks.

Looking for the same info. Hard to let over $400.00 go without much information. We have scoured YouTube and have found very little. They still show as available to book on our May cruise. 

[MJC]

These are not my photos but many thanks to whoever took them. This is a picture from a thread about the Yacht Club area on Ocean Cay, but it is an accurate portrayal of the cabana setup on all the beaches we saw.  If you stand on the pathway along the beach, looking toward the ocean, there is a line of various trees, then the row of cabanas up and down the beach, which are a decent width apart, then all the loungers on the beach, and then the water. So, you will have to cross the beach through the loungers to get to the water from a cabana. Some of the beaches, like Sunset Beach, are deeper than this so there is more distance between the cabanas, the loungers, and the water. But this is the general layout for the beaches we saw (we were not Yacht Club so I cannot comment on their beach).

 

 

Cabanas look like this with the chairs arranged inside not on the beach as shown. Some people had pulled loungers up to their cabana and had an umbrella too. Some reports are that they are comfy for 4 but would be tight for 6. YMMV. Since DH is 6'3 he would count as two in my book. 🙂

 

 

I don't know if there are actually any cabanas as close to the water as this. Perhaps this is a marketing photo? I read on one of the threads that the YC cabanas that have a direct water view are on a promontory and thus don't have water access.

 

The beaches that I saw with the setup I described were Sunset, Paradise Sands, Bimini, and the lagoon beaches (North and South). I cannot comment on the family cove or the YC. I don't recall seeing cabanas on Lighthouse Bay but I wasn't paying attention to that one when we went by.

 

Generally it will be usable from 10am to 4pm. The crew spends the morning offloading all the food and supplies for the day. Most people go back to the ship at 4pm for showers and dinner because the island buffet is only open for lunch. We left our beach at 4 and we felt like stragglers. 🙂 Then folks return to the island for the light show,  parade, and dance party.

 

 

[Fogfog]

We were in a YC Ocean front cabana yesterday at OC

It was fabulous!

We had picture perfect weather

Service was great---We were a party of 4, and had plenty of room, loungers, towels, floats etc

[slotmomma3]

12 hours ago, Fogfog said:

We were in a YC Ocean front cabana yesterday at OC

It was fabulous!

We had picture perfect weather

Service was great---We were a party of 4, and had plenty of room, loungers, towels, floats etc

Is it really Oceanfront, or is is a walk to the water past rows of loungers of other passengers?

Edited February 17, 2020 by slotmomma3

[Fogfog]

20 minutes ago, slotmomma3 said:

Is it really Oceanfront, or is is a walk to the water past rows of loungers of other passengers?

There are cabanas that are ocean VIEW--which have the rock retaining walls in front--and you cannot enter the water

There ocean Front/beach  are on the sandy beach and you are in the water in like 2 min.

They are fabulous

If you are ok to walk a couple min from the ocean view-- then you have more privacy in the View cabanas and can get to the beach in like 3 min

People on loungers in front of us didn't bother us...

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by Fogfog

[Cruising_Gals]

6 hours ago, slotmomma3 said:

Is it really Oceanfront, or is is a walk to the water past rows of loungers of other passengers?

Cabanas are structures, doubt they will ever set them up right at the ocean's edge so that other loungers - which are movable - wouldn't be there.  Unusual weather, high tides, etc. you can move loungers and umbrellas, not cabanas.  It would not be cost effective for them to do that with semi-permanent structures on a routine basis. 

 

I imagine the cabana is to give you a feeling of luxe beach time, you don't have to carry around the umbrella or be too close to other passengers and maybe have a little exclusivity.  I rather carry around the umbrella (my plan) since there are 8 beaches to go to throughout the day, for eating, drinking and snorkeling, and the cabana is a single beach buy.  If I spend an hour or two at the lighthouse then my cabana is just sitting there paid for but empty. 

 

I may get one one on later trips if I decide to just sit there and relax because I have already seen the island.  My two cents.

[cruzingambler]

Hi, we are leaving on March 1st:)

Can anyone that has rented the umbrellas at Ocean Cay let me know if you save $$ renting them on the website or can you rent them at Ocean Cay for the same price?  Also, is one enough for 2 lounge chairs or is it better to have 2?

 

Thanks so much

[MJC]

I reserved and paid on the website, don't know about paying on the island. My friends went to the Excursion Desk the day before and paid then. We had all gotten a flyer for rental stuff the night before (umbrellas, floats, etc). One umbrella is fine for 2 loungers. You can place the umbrella where you want it to cover both (or just move the loungers). We had a row of five so we moved a couple of the umbrella holders to cover the group. As the sun shifted throughout the day we just shuffled them around.

 

You get the umbrella in a pouch, but the holders are already placed on the beach. The holders are like a fold-up bag filled with sand around a screw-in pole holder. If you want to, you can easily let the sand out of the bag, move the bag and holder, and refill the sand with the little shovels they have around.