Why get a ship cabana if you have a veranda?

[pgphoto]

Sailing on the Eurodam in Jan/2011 - Eastern Caribbean...

Is there any reason to get one of the ship cabanas for 2 (I don't mean the half moon cay cabanas) if we already have a veranda? Thanks!

[Grumpy1]

Sailing on the Eurodam in Jan/2011 - Eastern Caribbean...

Is there any reason to get one of the ship cabanas for 2 (I don't mean the half moon cay cabanas) if we already have a veranda? Thanks!
On your veranda, you have to get your own drinks. In the cabana, the bar staff will take care of you.

[Mary Ellen]

Some people like to see - and be seen (and with a Lido cabana, you will be seen). Whatever works for you.

[DRWhit]

On our last HAL cruise,whenever we went up to the pool, there was always a person or a towel or a book or something in all the deck chairs around the pool. So I could see someone just wanting to be sure they had a spot saved for themselves at the pool.

[emerson621]

The Retreat Cabana adds that extra bit of luxury and comfort. Besides two waiters at your disposal to bring lunch and serve champagne and chocolate covered strawberries in the afternoon, you have a place to lounge privately and an area to sit out in the sun with couches and lounge chairs to socialize with others. The family cabanas are especially nice as there is room for 4 plus a table and chairs. This is the reason we are doing another cruise on the Eurodam.

[Hawaiidan]

You could have a butler too, and a private chef, and on and on.....

I would consider you have paid the money for a veranda cabin ,,,, for a view, Privacy, sun... whatever. It seems rather redundant to pay again for the same thing. I would consider that the cruise is a travel trip and I might consider to use money better to have experiences and adventures off the ship not for a deck chair that you can only really 2 out of 7 days !!!.

There too comes a point when the economy of buying up all these extras that are offered would quickly exceed what you would pay in total for a true luxury cruise. A cruise where everyone had everything and more than what you are getting.
Having done both, I consider it folly to try to have a luxury experience on a non-luxury ship. Don't get me wrong Holland America is a very nice ship. But, even if you bought everyhting they sold it would not come close to one of the true luxury lines, for a whole lot less!!!

Beauty, remains in the eye of the beholder... I just see no real attraction or value to me....:rolleyes: How about you:confused:

[Harry1954]

Some people like to see - and be seen (and with a Lido cabana, you will be seen). Whatever works for you.
this is it .... i recall on recent cruise a lady always dressed in loud, catchy outfits who happened to have a suite ... being seen there.
harry

[mikey55]

Sailing on the Eurodam in Jan/2011 - Eastern Caribbean...

Is there any reason to get one of the ship cabanas for 2 (I don't mean the half moon cay cabanas) if we already have a veranda? Thanks!
Having the cabanas on the Eurodam is one of the reasons we don't care for the ship. They take too much room from the Lido deck. We use our veranda.

[maxout]

Conversely, why get a veranda if you have a cabana? ;) :p :D

[bepsf]

I'd rather pay more suite than a smaller cabin w/ a Cabana - almost everything that's available with the Cabana is available via Room Service already.

And if I wanna lie on my verandah completely naked, I could do so without folks wandering past gawking in at me

[peaches from georgia]

For anyone who has had one, how hot do you get inside the cabana? We find the Lido pool area can get very hot and humid in the Caribbean around the Lido pool. They don't always have the dome open and there is not a lot of circulation of air or breeze, much less being inside the cabana itself. Just wondering.

[schoolinmy3]

We rented a family cabana for our Mediterranean cruise in May. It was in the retreat area and did not get hot or stuffy at all. Everytime my husband went up there to relax he fell asleep! My only caution is that we didn't get as much use out of it as we would have liked because our cruise did not have enough sea days. We were away from the ship too much of the time to take full advantage of the cabana especially since it closes shortly after 6 pm. My daughter still talks about the chocolate covered strawberries though. And our greatest excitement was watching the tardy passengers run for the gangplank. It was quite funny. Although seeing that my daughter became paranoid that we would miss the boat as well. She was constantly checking the time when we were in port (she was 10!)
diane

[Typhoon1]

If you like to hang out poolside on a regular basis, the cabana will guarantee you a place to hang out, plus the amenities.

[krewzin]

You could have a butler too, and a private chef, and on and on.....





Thank you for this information!

Any idea of the cost for the butler and private chef? I haven't seen these listed on the HAL website, and we would be very interested in this for the cabana we have reserved on our upcoming Eurodam cruise.

We're also interested in a 'cabana masseuse,' as well as a 'cabana portable potty' (so that we don't have to get up and head to the pool) ...so I'm hoping that these are amenities that we haven't overlooked and are available to us?

[terigo]

This was the answer i gave in another thread about this....
balcony and cabana offer two different experiences.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26182695&highlight=#post26182695

[schoolinmy3]

Thank you for this information!

Any idea of the cost for the butler and private chef? I haven't seen these listed on the HAL website, and we would be very interested in this for the cabana we have reserved on our upcoming Eurodam cruise.

We're also interested in a 'cabana masseuse,' as well as a 'cabana portable potty' (so that we don't have to get up and head to the pool) ...so I'm hoping that these are amenities that we haven't overlooked and are available to us?

The cabana stewards will offer to bring you anything to eat from the buffet areas but being on the young side with even younger kids who needed to burn energy anyway, we sent them off to bring up snacks.
diane

[canadarocks]

Thank you for this information!

Any idea of the cost for the butler and private chef? I haven't seen these listed on the HAL website, and we would be very interested in this for the cabana we have reserved on our upcoming Eurodam cruise.

We're also interested in a 'cabana masseuse,' as well as a 'cabana portable potty' (so that we don't have to get up and head to the pool) ...so I'm hoping that these are amenities that we haven't overlooked and are available to us?

:D

You all realize that this poster is kidding, right? ;)

[oreilln]

:D

You all realize that this poster is kidding, right? ;)
And do they provide dvds of the ports so we dont actually have to leave and traipse around the ports? And is there a person who applies sunscreen, always a boring job? Can you pay extra to sleep there so you dont have to make the effort to go back to your cabin? And of course in cabana childcare would be a real plus!!!

[Diane Rose]

Just wondering how easy it is to get a cabana for a day or 2 or 3 on the Eurodam? Are they generally all prebooked. I really don't want to book the week, but would love to try it for a few days.

Diane

[Typhoon1]

Just wondering how easy it is to get a cabana for a day or 2 or 3 on the Eurodam? Are they generally all prebooked. I really don't want to book the week, but would love to try it for a few days.

Diane

The Retreat pre books very quickly.

You might get an open Lido deck cabana for a day or two.

[Diane Rose]

The Retreat pre books very quickly.

You might get an open Lido deck cabana for a day or two.


Thank you. I guess I better give this some more thought. I know I definitely do not want the Lido cabanas.

[surfergirle]

1. Allows you to have a space near the pool no matter what.
2. A place to be outside on rainy days as the retreat cabanas aren't under the retractable room.
3. The day bed allows me to sit close to my fiancee and we can share our ipod.

I for one did not book the cabana to "see and be seen". LOL

[boca7]

On the Eurodam I also felt they took up too much room & the upholstery looked dirty, I wouldn`t lie on it if it were free.

[krewzin]

On the Eurodam I also felt they took up too much room & the upholstery looked dirty, I wouldn`t lie on it if it were free.


Yeah....sure you wouldn't.:rolleyes: -That's why god invented towels.

Translation: 'I resent the fact that these cabanas are more than I want to spend.':D

[igraf]

The major shortcoming of the whole cabana concept for me is that I simply would not be happy sitting in one place all day, and like you I would not be around to use it on port days. Variety is the spice of my life, and so I prefer to roam about the ship.

igraf






...My only caution is that we didn't get as much use out of it as we would have liked because our cruise did not have enough sea days. We were away from the ship too much of the time to take full advantage of the cabana especially since it closes shortly after 6 pm. ....

[terigo]

Yeah....sure you wouldn't.:rolleyes: -That's why god invented towels.

Translation: 'I resent the fact that these cabanas are more than I want to spend.':D

oh c'mon... you just KNOW the lounge chairs that are open to everyone else by the pool are cleaned much better by the staff than the cabana lounges! :rolleyes:

I find it interesting that the people who have never used one or have been inconvenienced by them taking up their space poolside are the ones who have negative things to say, or have "heard" negative things.

Anyone who has used them has loved em. I prefer to pay attention to the people who have actually plunked down $$ and given their feedback than listen to those who sound more like sour grapes than the voice of experience.

oh, and wanting to get up to roam the ship is probably the best reason to reserve a cabana.... then you know if you want to come back to the pool you don't have to scrounge around for a spot.

[lazydayz]

Just returned from the Eurodam and we had a balcony cabin and cabana. The balcony was lovely but we may have spent 30 minutes out there all cruise long. Step out in the morning to check the weather and in the evening to see the stars. We used the retreat cabana everyday, sometimes for an hour but on sea days, up to four hours. The retreat is a lovely area and the family cabana was about the same size as our stateroom. For us the retreat was just that, a place to escape and relax. The two attendants (Bernard and Mikey) were very attentive but also respected our privacy. If I had to chose between a balcony and a retreat cabana, the cabana would win.

For the 10/23/10 cruise, according to Bernard, all of the retreat cabanas were reserved for the entire week.

[slp123]

I find it amusing how people who have never been on the Eurodam("ED") or Nieuw Amsterdam ("NA") have such strong (mostly negative) opinions about the cabanas.

In the late fall of 2009 I was on the ED and did book a cabana and we had a large balcony as well. We have booked a cabana again for our cruise on the NA in February. The two are not redundant experiences, especially if you want to catch some sun and at the moment your balcony is on the shady side of the ship. Also your balcony is completely a private space while the Retreat (ED) or Cabana Club (NA) is like a private club or it actually is more akin to the separate deck space reserved for grill class passengers on Cunard. It's quiet, calm, no scrambling for a chaise lounge and you have attendants who can't do enough for you and you can socialize with others.

Now that being said, it certainly isn't a necessity. I found the aft pool (I think its called the Ocean View pool) on the ED very spacious and relaxing. On the other hand I found the Lido pool cramped, hectic and not appealing. And I do agree that the cabanas that are placed on the Lido deck take too much room, make you feel hemmed in and are also not very private or appealing UNLESS you are traveling as a family with kids and want to establish a "home base" where the kids can always find you and the little ones can be placed in a corner for a nap away from everyone.

So if you are thinking of taking a cabana for the day or for the entire cruise, get one on the Observation Deck not the Lido Deck.

[bepsf]

oh, and wanting to get up to roam the ship is probably the best reason to reserve a cabana.... then you know if you want to come back to the pool you don't have to scrounge around for a spot.

So the best reason to get a cabana is to not use it?
That makes sense...
:cool:

I'd rather just do the chair hog thing...
...leaving a book or towel on a chair is easy and free.
;)

[igraf]

The message that we are trying to get across is that it is bad to privatize what used to be open deck area for all to enjoy. We are quite aware that certain people take pleasure at the expense of others, and we also find the 1st class/second class concept repulsive.

Tell you what... You sail on the Signature class ships and I'll stick with the Vista class ships.

igraf




I find it amusing how people who have never been on the Eurodam("ED") or Nieuw Amsterdam ("NA") have such strong (mostly negative) opinions about the cabanas.

In the late fall of 2009 I was on the ED and did book a cabana and we had a large balcony as well. We have booked a cabana again for our cruise on the NA in February. The two are not redundant experiences, especially if you want to catch some sun and at the moment your balcony is on the shady side of the ship. Also your balcony is completely a private space while the Retreat (ED) or Cabana Club (NA) is like a private club or it actually is more akin to the separate deck space reserved for grill class passengers on Cunard. It's quiet, calm, no scrambling for a chaise lounge and you have attendants who can't do enough for you and you can socialize with others.
.....

[Bill B]

I wonder - how long until they start building ships where pax who book a certain Cat. of stateroom are not allowed above a certain deck? Sound familiar?

[tcook052]

I wonder - how long until they start building ships where pax who book a certain Cat. of stateroom are not allowed above a certain deck? Sound familiar?

Yes it does as most chain hotels do this now with their "executive" floors where a special key is required to access this special enclave.

[Bill B]

Yes it does as most chain hotels do this now with their "executive" floors where a special key is required to access this special enclave.
I was thinking more along nautical lines with terms such as: 'steerage', '2nd class'... but a little more euphamistic. ;)

Everything is cyclical... in 40-50 years, some genius will come up with a 'brand new' concept in cruising where all pax will have access to all areas/venues; there will be two, fixed-time seatings for dinner; and except for alcohol, the cruise will be 'all-inclusive'... LOL.

[tcook052]

I was thinking more along nautical lines with terms such as: 'steerage', '2nd class'... but a little more euphamistic. ;)

Everything is cyclical... in 40-50 years, some genius will come up with a 'brand new' concept in cruising where all pax will have access to all areas/venues; there will be two, fixed-time seatings for dinner; and except for alcohol, the cruise will be 'all-inclusive'... LOL.

Like fashions where suddenly it isn't old it's retro. :D

And I knew where you were going but couldn't resist gently pointing out existing differentiation of service within the hospitality industry. My favorite saying is 'everything is possible (for a price)' and those who want to pay for perks will while those who don't won't. I just happen to be one who normally falls in the 'won't' category but to each their own. :)

[Bill B]

The next step in the evolution of cruising will be when Norwegian introduces dormitory accommodation and a la cart cafeteria dining. ;)

[Dynamictwo]

We booked a family cabana and an inside cabin on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 2 weeks. Then they upgraded us to a Spa Balcony cabin. I expect to have fun in both. We already had a Family Cabana on the Eurodam -- well worth every dollar we spent as we split it with friends. So it cost us $225 for 2 for the entire 7-night cruise. If luxury is so cheap, why not indulge?