Complete review of ziplining and beach cabana at Mahogany Bay incl. pics!

Hi everyone. I had a little bit of difficulty when trying to research some excursions before I left on my cruise, so thought I would do excursion reviews with pictures when I got back to try and help others trying to find more information out.

First I have to say that I was a little worried as when I booked the cabana at the beach online, the system would not let me book another excursion for the day. When I went to the Carnival excursion desk, "poof", they made it happen. We were able to buy ziplining tickets. Now, I do want to mention that the cabanas were only priced for 4 people ( you must get wristbands at a shack after you get off the shop), but at the excursions desk you can add up to 2 more people for a surcharge. I want to say it was something like $45-ish which included the magical flying chairs and the wristband to get into the gated area to the cabana.And that was for an adult rate.

So now to getting off of the ship!

We were welcomed to Mahogany Bay by this beautiful sign.

Here is a pic of the port shopping center:

We were told we needed to get off of the ship and go directly to a yellow shack to the right of where everyone was holding excursion signs for passengers. We needed to get our wristbands there, get on the flying magical chairs, get our cabana, dump our things inside and lock it and get back to the original starting point for 9am to zipline. We had about 45 minutes to do that after getting off the ship and it turned out not to be a big deal.

So as we are waiting for the rest of the passengers to show up, my husband sees this:

It is called fat Tuesdays and no, you can not have one before ziplining-lol.

So as we made our way into the area to get suited up for ziplining, I did notice that you can actually book this excursion at the spur of the moment with them. they have a pay here window, so no need to book ahead of time with Carnival if you aren't 100% sure you want to do this. There were 2 different ziplines, one was called EXPRESS, the other called EXTREME. I do have to say I am not a zipline person, but I went on the EXTREME with the kids and I was a lot of fun. Expensive, but I do understand as I am sure liability insurance is included at the price.

If you want to go on your own ( at your leisure, the zipline "house" can be found here:

It is in the back of the main shopping "area". There will be a walkthru area to get from the main shopping area to the zipline office/"house". You will not see it unless you go 1/2 way thru this walking area- like a breezeway.

It is a yellow building and you will see this sign:

After we suited up, we rode in the back of the truck up the mountain. we walked a little ways and then off to ziplining. It was not bad and imo people young and old could do this excursion.( as long as they could walk up the stairs of the platform and walk uphill for a short time.)

On the last zip, it took us all the way to the beach area where our cabana was. YEA! It was great fun, and worth the money. They do take pictures of you and your family getting suited up and at one zip, they take about 12-15 pictures of each family member zipping into a platform-so be sure to see them, smile and wave hi! The photos on disk were only $40. that is a flat $40 no matter how many photos they took of you and your companions/family. We are a family of 5 and had 101 pictures on disk! If you are on the EXTREME, you have the option to go back to the office/house to get your photos on disk then, or wait until you are done for the day and ready to go back on the ship. Just expect to be there about 20-30 minutes as they burn the disks while you wait. Cash is only accepted form of payment here. For EXPRESS, you end where you start so just buy your disk after you take off your gear. And tips are accepted and the guides split all tips. Just FYI.They have a tip box at the end of the trip.

Actual costs of each:

The Zip Line EXTREME was $89.99 adults/ $79.99 child and the EXPRESS was $59.99 adults/$49.99 child. All USD dollars.

Okay next up...the beach and cabana!

...And here is the actual clip on the zipline that keeps you safe. You can see it hooks onto 2 lines and then way at the top there is a 3rd line that you are connected to as well. So, as a mom, I felt we were as safe as could be expected for ziplining...

Now onto the beach!

You can either take the walking path to the beach ( for free and takes maybe 6 minutes) or take the magical flying chairs to the beach ( cost was $11.99 per adult and $6.99 per child if purchased via ship or at the yellow shack when you arrived and if it was not included in a previously purchased excursion).

You can't see in the photo , but there was a bar that comes down to hold onto like a carnival ride when you are seated in it. I did not see any seatbelts while we were on it to keep little ones in though. Might have them, but none I could see when we rode it. HTH.

You could ride these as much as you wanted. Also they go very, very slow. Great for pictures, great views, and feeling the breeze up there was heavenly after sweating through the day-lol. If you go early in the morning on the flying chairs, be sure to look down for a ship photographer that will wave at you. He/she will take your picture while up in the air and then you can buy it on the boat the next day. ALSO, when you exit the magical flying chairs on your RIGHT, there will be a beachy area with your ship in the background. Great way to get a photo of you and the ship with noone else in the background there. When we got off, a Carnival photographer was at that spot too.

Here's a pic of everyone in the water closest to the ship with the Breeze in the background ( there are areas further away from the ship-but people chose to swim as close as they could for some reason (?):

Alright, I am ending it here for now, I have to re-upload some photos as they are not posting right . Will finish up the review soon :)

did you book this through the ship and do know how many lines you ziplined?

yes we booked it through the ship.

I think I remember 6 lines for the Extreme side.One of the lines was over water and they boasted that one was over 1600 ft.They were all pretty long, high and pretty fast. hth.

Okay, back to business now ;)

After taking the Zipline, we ended right on the beach. We walked a little ways behind all of the chairs and clamshells and got to our cabana. I have to say it was money well worth spent. It looked EXACTLY like the pictures on the Carnival excusions website. I mean EXACTLY.

My pictures will not do it justice, but here it goes:

Outside the cabana:

(notice the outdoor shower to the left and sorry, LSU shirt not included-lol.)

It also had a 2 yellow sofas inside that could seat 6, some sodas included for all of us and some cookie type snacks for us inside the fridge-all included.There was a tv with remote, VERY COLD air conditioner, a safe in which you held the key, a coffee table, free wifi passwords for each person in your reservation, and a key lock that locks the outside of your cabana that you hold onto as well. (Sorry no pics of the inside).

Also for the exterior, it has 2 orange loungers on the patio, an outdoor shower which is COLD, a hammock that can fit 1-2 people that has mister sprays, and another huge lounger in the sun that can seat at least 2 ( depending on how much space you like-lol-picture below.).

We had 4 blue floatie mats:

Picture including the Large lounger, the misting hammock and front of cabana:

Another photo of the gorgeous cabana area. There are only 6 cabanas here that can be reserved:

We also had a personal waiter here at the cabana. He would get us anything we wanted and put our items on a tab that we paid in USD when we were ready to go. The nachos here were DELICIOUS!And they are HUGE!Posting a pic of the menu for anyone who might be interested:

Now when you reserve a cabana, they have a security guard at the entry gate that will keep out all other guests from the cabana area. The little strip of beach anyone can walk thru or swim in front of, but noone else can be in the cabana "area." Believe me, some will try but we saw security run people off when trying to get on the chairs or go try to use the outdoor shower at one of the other cabanas.

If you like to snorkel, the best area to try and do this is at the end of the pier near the last cabana on the beach ( furthest from the entry). You will probably see people who have paid for some sort of excursion in the area, but it is free to go out and around there yourself.

There is a lot of sea grass here so if that bothers you, bring swim shoes. Also would not recommend wearing your prescription eyeglasses here. one lady lost hers while in the water and never did find them.

Okay, next I am going to post a photo of the clamshells that were available to rent. We did not get one as we got the cabana, but here's a pic for anyone interested:

I am hoping this photo posts large as it gives you an idea where everything is:

Picture of the white beach chairs that are free ( they were everywhere, but clamshells and cabanas had best views -imo):

We only had one boat in port, but can see how the beach would be packed with 2 boats in port.

The prices for what was offered thru Carnivals excursions was:

$249.99 Beach cabana rental for 4 ( price went up since we booked it and book EARLY! Sells out fast!)

$42.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, one clamshell, 2 float rentals.

$62.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, clamshell, 2 floats and 30 minutes kayaking

$52.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, 2 floats, a clamshell and snorkeling gear for 2

&74.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, clamshell, 2 float rentals, kayaking for 30 minutes and snorkel gear rental for 2.

... and lastly a photo of the cost of the rentals when you arrive at the beach:

and photo of the rentals:

Hope this can help someone else looking for information here!

thank you so much this helped we are doing the extreme zip lining and going to the beach I noticed that you can rent the clam there but can you get that on the ship as well?

You sure can. It can be reserved on the ship, but also includes the magical flying chairs for a total of $42.99. It is called the Relax on the Beach Package thru Carnival.

We did see some families who rented the clamshell that had 3+ people and it appeared the parents had the clamshell and the kids played in the water the whole time. The package thru the ship does also include 2 water floats/rafts.

Hope this helps!

I don't know what happened with the 2 pics above, but trying to post them correctly here:

magical flying chairs :

and the zipline clip:

I know the cabana is for 4 people, can we bring a 5th person in with us. There would only be 4 in the cabana at a time( in and out with activities)

Thanks for information

Thanks for this information. So very helpful to see actual pictures of the area, menus, etc. It's true, a picture is worth 1000 words.

To add a 5th or 6th person, you would need to pay the surcharge on the ship at the excursions desk. They will provide the added tickets for you to bring to the yellow shack at port to exchange for wristbands for all. Security would not let anyone stay in the cabana area without the wristband that is color coded for that particular day. You can go in and out of the cabana area as much as you liked, but had to get checked by security every time you wanted to get back to the cabanas.

Hope this helps ;)

.

I have convienced 6 people to go zip lining and we have reserved 2clam shells I will get another when we get there:D than you so much for the beautiful pictures and reviews

Your welcome:) And just be sure to have cash and leave some time available to wait for them to burn a disc for you if you buy the photos. You can put every single person in your group on one disc and it be only $40 USD. You just need to show them on their computer who and where everyone is. Don't worry, take your time, they are okay with you finding everyone:)

Hi -

Thanks for the great review and pictures! With the zip line, was there a long way to walk and steps to climb? My friend has issues with her ankle and can walk, but long distances and uneven ground might be challenging for her. Did the zip line have a self-braking system or did you have to stop yourself? Did you feel safe after leaving the compound area of the cruise port?

Thanks!

Great questions. I really can not 100% say that your friend would be comfortable as I do not know her.

But I can tell you that they do take you in the back of a truck up the mountain so you do not have to walk such a long distance ( a bit bumpy). We walked for maybe 7-8 minutes or so uphill (not steep at all, imo ) and up some stairs of a platform. Nothing too tricky. We went ziplining in Jamaica and that was on uneven ground and lots and lots of walking, so comparing the two, this was a breeze.

As for the compound, this is located INSIDE. You do not need to go outside of the gates to do this ziplining activity at all.

And this has a self braking system which was WONDERFUL :)

If this helps, I would think my 65 year old mother with arthritis would have no issues being able to do this ziplining activity here.

I cant seem to find much on the Blue Lagoon area. You have a pic of it and call it the "pay only area". My biggest question is, are they able to keep people out that haven't paid? Is there any one else here that might know? I could open a new post but thought I'd ask here 1st.

Beyond silly questions -

What are the payment options for anything (i.e. rentals, drinks/bar tab) - cash, credit card, S&S card?

Are there chair options that are somewhat shaded avoiding the need to rent a clam shell?

Thanks! We were 90% sold on this before and now 100%. quick question, how close is the beach from the cabana? Also how much time do the zip line courses take? Thanks again!

sarmat1:

As Far as I know, no one accepted the S/S card for anythign that I ran into. They wanted US dollars or a credit card. The man that ran the photos on disk at the zip line wanted US cash only- no cards.

There were a couple of white regular beach chairs in the shade ( you can see them in a picture I posted) that are free to use, but they were not really close to the beach enough for a "view" Although with the clam shells, they took up so much room if you were not up front in a clam shell, it did not look like you could see the beach for a "view" either-just the back of the clam shell in front of you. Hope this helps :)

I cant seem to find much on the Blue Lagoon area. You have a pic of it and call it the "pay only area". My biggest question is, are they able to keep people out that haven't paid? Is there any one else here that might know? I could open a new post but thought I'd ask here 1st.

I wish I could help more about the Blue Lagoon area. But we booked the cabana and did not even look into it. Hopefully someone can help you more. If you do not get any information here, they did have someone posted right outside the area when you walked by it that could probably point you in the right direction to get a chair in there.

The beach was right in front of the cabana.Wish I had a photo to show better, but it was laid out with the cabana being the furthest from the beach water, then an open area, then the misting hammock, then the bright orange sun chair, then the beach itself.If I had an educated guess, from the bottom step of the cabana porch to the water was maybe 30-40 steps at most. We were in the 2nd cabana from the gate, the watermelon cabana, which seems just a little closer to the water than the other cabanas in the middle.

As for the ziplines at the facility we went to, it was only 1 hour for the Extreme lines and they get you suited right up after signing your liability waiver and get you in back of the truck ready to go and you land at the beach for your last zip line. The information in the excursion book says to allow 1 hour for each the extreme and the express zip lines. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for this review! Could you tell me if the zip line is Clip n Zip? Also, in your opinion, would it be doable for someone who is 200 lbs?

On another note, I never realized that there were cabanas at Mahogany Bay. Since our cruise is only five days away, they are now sold out. :( I will definitely make note of it for next time, though.

Yes it is. And no problem on weight. I believe I remember them saying you can zip up to 250 or 275 lbs. hth :)