Half Moon Cay Cabanas

[Typhoon1]

How far in advance of sailing are you able to reserve to reserve a cabana? I always end up on a waitlist weeks before cruising.

[amyfromjersey]

I tried to book one six months out and was told they were all booked. I was so bummed. I figured I was being efficient doing it six months out. I guess there are others out there that are super efficient. I am waitlisted.

Good luck.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Many people are calling Ship Services the minute they book their cruise - as much as 9 months in advance.

Besides there be only 10 cabanas, another problem is that on some dates, 2 HAL ships will be at HMC allowing only 5 cabanas per ship.

[FCOWHER]

Can anyone tell me about the Taupe Cabana? Joe V.

Zuiderdam 4/23/05
RCI - 2 times
Princess - 3 times
QE2 - 1 time
Royal Majesty - 1 time
Carnival - 1 time

[cru1s1ng]

Two more problems with cabanas are:

1. They cost $219 (without butler service).
2. From reading the posts, more than half the time the seas are too rough to tender at HMC. Anyone know if those pre-bookers get a refund?

[Kabana]

I tried to book a cabana for 3/13 last week and they are sold out :(

If it is too rough to tender or excursions are cancelled HAL refunds the excursion.

[TedC]

You get a refund if the ship is unable to tender you to HMC. The same for any shore excursion you might book at HMC or at any other port the ship has to skip.

From my experience HMC is not skipped "more than half the time" - only when the Capt. deems it's unsafe to tender passengers to that beautiful beach.

[gbc]

I called shore excursions today to book a cabana for September and was told that they book about 60 days before sailing. Anyone who has booked several months in advance, please tell me who you spoke to. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Typhoon1]

It sounds next to impossible to reserve a cabana. The next best thing is reserving a clamshell, however, there are only 35 available.

[watchdiva]

As a HAL first-timer, I didn't know you couldn't book cabanas until 60 days out from your cruise. I went to the Shore Excusions, booked it online the day after I booked my cruise (in October) and reserved it at that time. It was charged to my credit card immediately (no problem with that) and shows as "ours" on our Shore Excursion list. Then, after reading the boards here, I got nervous and called HAL to confirm the booking. HAL confirmed all shore excursions, dinner reservations, etc.

Try booking it online and see what happens - or try calling HAL back and maybe you'll get another person that will try to assist you.

[gorka]

Hi everyone . I tried to book on line on Jan 19 and it said you had to be waitlisted soooooo I called shore excursions and they said they had 4 or 5 (can't remember) open so I booked the orange one right then and there. Gorka.

[Kabana]

I called to be sure and they really are all booked so I am waitlisted for the turquoise and reserved a clamshell

[HeatherInFlorida]

I know I keep saying it, but I believe it bears repeating ... the cabanas are 150% worth every penny. The thing to do is try to reserve the minute you've booked your cruise. We had no problem getting the Turquoise for our November cruise when we booked it last June.

Sadly, we've all been talking about them too much. We should have kept them our own little secret:) . But between you, me and the lamp post, if you're lucky enough to get one, you will NOT be sorry. I can't imagine another day on Half Moon Cay without our wonderful cabana!!

[Gracemobetta]

We booked our cabanna the day after we booked our cruise which was about 75days before we leave. I want a cabanna butler....anyone know if it is worth it or not?

[gidgetgoes]

I just tried to book a cabana for our August 27 sailing on the Zui, and the very, very nice lady at HAL (reassuring!) told me that I won't be able to book any excursions (a cabana is considered an excursion) for another 30 days. But, she advised that since the cabanas are so popular, to keep trying to call every week to check and see if I can book yet, just in case they allow bookings earlier. She was really funny...when I asked if I could check if any of the cabanas were available, she asked when I was sailing, and when I told her August, she started with "oh, well, that's sort of planning way ahead..." and then laughed and said that yes, the cabanas fill up quick. She was cool. Imagine...friendly customer service! I hope this carries through the entire cruise...
- terri

[HeatherInFlorida]

Gidgetgoes, I've always found them real nice in Seattle (or wherever they are:) ). When we booked our cabana for November, we were able to do it in June but that's when they were still booked through Ship's Services. And when I booked ours, 3 or 4 were already gone.

So I would call them on a weekly basis ... you'll probably get someone different each time anyway. You should be persistent because once they open them up, they'll likely be gone.

Grace, personally I can't see the butler being worth the cost. But I've seen posts where people loved it. In our case (and I've read this isn't always true) our Cabana boys were so amazing. We almost couldn't get rid of them! They brought us everything we could possibly want and then some! Enjoy.

[sreed41]

Thanks to all of you on these boards, I booked a cabana for our cruise at the end of March although I haven't told DH yet nor the couple traveling with us. I figure it will make for a great surprise. I actually lucked out and got the last one that wasn't waitlisted. Thanks for the advice to book early. It paid off. I'll let you know if it was worth it when we return.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with Hal excursions and they said it was too early. She said to call back March 1st.
We are sailing 7/23/05.

Bill

[scluvsrain]

I ditto what Heather had to say about the cabanas being worth every penny of the $219. I had the blue one last summer and it was awesome. Just being able to sit at a nice table to eat our lunch, in the shade was great. Also, our cabana boys (young men) were close by and would come over occasionally to ask us if we needed or wanted anything, plus they brought us our lunch at the time we said we wanted it, etc. They were always just an eye contact away, so we never felt like they were hovering.

I've booked the turquoise cabana for our visit there in late April on the Westerdam. I booked it online, via the shore excursion site. I found it odd that no cabanas had yet been booked and we're only about 80 days away from sailing. :confused:

--Sherita