Ocean Cay Cabanas

[Southern latitudes]

Due to the uptick in Covid in Europe, we have decided to cruise the Caribbean instead.  We will be visiting Ocean Cay.  We love the beach, but not so much the sun.  We will be in Ocean House beach area-is there plenty of shade there or is it necessary/worth it to rent a cabana?  If so, is there much difference between the beach front and ocean view cabanas?

 

Thank you.  

[Beamafar]

Do you mean the YC area?

[Southern latitudes]

Yes, thank you for clarifying.

[phissy]

We were just there on Monday.
YC beach has plenty of umbrellas and loungers. They supply towels so you do not need to bring from ship. 
we had plenty of shade, front row on beach, with our umbrellas.

At noon, walked to Ocean House for lunch. Ordered lobster roll. It is actually shrimp salad with Mayo on roll. Still very tasty. Good drinks.

then back to beach but wind picked up. 
Took trolley transport ( they provide) back to embark point. Glad to get back on ship. Dark stormy clouds and wind. Lightshow on Lighthouse was fun to watch from ship. Most were onboard as OC was very blustery.

[Beamafar]

Excursions are discounted if you book before sailing.  I’m assuming it’s the same for booking cabanas.  Also, they may be booked out before boarding, so it would be advisable to book beforehand. 

Here are the prices for pre-booking:

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Beamafar

[Southern latitudes]

Thanks.  If you prebook and then change your mind, can you cancel?  If so, do you have to cancel before boarding?

[Beamafar]

You have to cancel before the cruise.   For excursions we’ve prebooked in the past, it was at least 4 days beforehand.  

[Southern latitudes]

Thank you.  I have cruised Royal, Disney and Princess previously, but trying MSC for the first time.  Each line does things a little differently.

[BoundForSea]

This has nothing to do with Cabanas however we were back in September after not being there since Feb 20 before Pandemic. The coral rock has washed back in from being dumped out at sea during the construction of OC. Yacht club beach beneath the water now has jagged coral rock (used to be sand) I believe the hurricane in 2020 that came through probably washed it back in. Anyway I recommend bringing hard soled water shoes if you’re at YC Beach and want to go out in the water. I tried hard in September to endure the pain and finally we just had to either go out and float or head back in. 

 

We will be bringing them in Dec when we return. 

 

Anyway just a heads up. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by BoundForSea

[Southern latitudes]

Thanks.   What does it cost to rent an umbrella there?

[pvpollock]

If you go to the beach right next to the lighthouse, which is the closest beach by the way, the umbrellas are free and on our cruise plenty were available. There were some small shade trees, not a lot.  If your cruise is more full, you'd need to be one of the earlier ones off.  The main beach is a longer walk straight forward off the ship, there are miles of chairs but no natural shade at all.  You pay for umbrellas there

[pr8hd]

On 11/21/2021 at 6:54 PM, Southern latitudes said:

Thanks.   What does it cost to rent an umbrella there?

$12 USD if booked in advance, $15 if rented onboard.

[miataman19]

Booked YC beach front cabana, number 5. Had a great time. Plenty of shade inside the cabana and 4 loungers and 2 umbrellas right outside the cabana. Butlers brought all drinks and lunch.

[Fogfog]

On 11/20/2021 at 5:28 PM, BoundForSea said:

This has nothing to do with Cabanas however we were back in September after not being there since Feb 20 before Pandemic. The coral rock has washed back in from being dumped out at sea during the construction of OC. Yacht club beach beneath the water now has jagged coral rock (used to be sand) I believe the hurricane in 2020 that came through probably washed it back in. Anyway I recommend bringing hard soled water shoes if you’re at YC Beach and want to go out in the water. I tried hard in September to endure the pain and finally we just had to either go out and float or head back in. 

 

We will be bringing them in Dec when we return. 

 

Anyway just a heads up. 

TY for this.

We were there in Feb 2020 and the beach was lovely white sand and few coral pieces--so there were  few ouches yet not like you are describing

That's unfortunate that so much coral has washed in... maybe from the outer barriers and reefs they are trying to build?

Will bring water shoes

[BoundForSea]

1 hour ago, Fogfog said:

TY for this.

We were there in Feb 2020 and the beach was lovely white sand and few coral pieces--so there were  few ouches yet not like you are describing

That's unfortunate that so much coral has washed in... maybe from the outer barriers and reefs they are trying to build?

Will bring water shoes

We were there in Feb as well like you and it’s like night and day. When they built the island they moved a lot of the ground down rock out to form reefs. They told us after the hurricanes that blew through and by in 2020 alot of the rock got washed back up. It’s not on the beach itself but immediately when you hit the water. Not sure about the other beaches. I’m sure the ones that are lagoons are still fine and even the west facing beaches. 

[Fogfog]

21 minutes ago, BoundForSea said:

We were there in Feb as well like you and it’s like night and day. When they built the island they moved a lot of the ground down rock out to form reefs. They told us after the hurricanes that blew through and by in 2020 alot of the rock got washed back up. It’s not on the beach itself but immediately when you hit the water. Not sure about the other beaches. I’m sure the ones that are lagoons are still fine and even the west facing beaches. 

Makes sense.

There were larger pieces amongst that lovely white sand.

Would not be surprised if they harvest the stuff that washed it and move it back out to those starter reef spots.

The water on the YC side had that little jetty... we see the vision they are going for and its going to be amazing.

When we were there there was little vegetation yet--some palms and some seedling ground cover. 

When the hurricane rolled the Bahamas I wondered how OC would survive...over a decade in the making and mother nature can level it in one storm

[phissy]

On 11/21/2021 at 7:54 PM, Southern latitudes said:

Thanks.   What does it cost to rent an umbrella there?

Here is price list from cruise this week. These are the onboard book prices from excursion desk.