I booked a cabana at Half Moon Caye. Now what?

Now that I booked a cabana for Half Moon Caye, what do I do to secure one, and what can I expect?

Thanks in advance!

When you booked it.. did you ask for a specific cabana.. thats what people do right?? ahead of time.

go to the shore tour desk as soon as you board the ship to secure your cabana location. I recommend the higher numbers as it is much quieter there. We had the cream colored one and it was right by the bathroom and the shuttle stop.

You will also get to give the types of soda you want. I believe you get eight cans.

Generally you have to wait until you get onboard, go to the shore excursion desk, and request the cabana you want. For our upcoming cruise we were able to email shore excursions and request the one we wanted in advance...not sure if they are still doing that or not. I think the email address is shoreexcursions@carnival.com if you want to give it a try.

This cabana was close to restrooms and shuttle stop. Not crowded like the lower numbers.

Generally you have to wait until you get onboard, go to the shore excursion desk, and request the cabana you want. For our upcoming cruise we were able to email shore excursions and request the one we wanted in advance...not sure if they are still doing that or not. I think the email address is shoreexcursions@carnival.com if you want to give it a try.

Ive seen other posts where people secured the one they wanted in advance.

If enough do this.. once onboard the good ones will be gone.

 

If enough do this.. once onboard the good ones will be gone.

Is there a bad one? There are only 15, so I can't imagine any one of them would be that bad.

If you can secure which one you want ahead of time, awesome! We've had #7 twice. Once on board, you will need to stop by the excursion desk and give your soda preferences (you get 8) and shoe sizes for the fins in the snorkel kits. You will also have priority tendering over, which could be as early as 7:30 in the morning! But you can go later.

Once you tender over, you will walk into the square and look to the left for the information booth. They will then take you by golf cart/shuttle to your cabana. It should be ready with a huge bag of tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, sliced fruit and whole fruit, the sodas that you ordered and (I think) some bottles of water. There should also be four floating pads and the four snorkel sets (snorkeling out from the cabanas isn't the greatest, IMHO). I also think there were 4 towels waiting on us too.

Is there a bad one? There are only 15, so I can't imagine any one of them would be that bad.

The lower the number, the closer to the tender area and the more crowded it will be, since most people go to the quickest point to the water (and the two bars and kids area).

They stopped letting people pick in advance when a bunch did it the beginning of July. They stopped on the 14th I believe. I was lucky and got to get my pick. We always pick the beige one/egg shell #9 by the trolley stop and bathroom. It has never been crowded there but it tend to be in the lowered numbered cabanas

Do they really all sell out online? That seems unfair to folks who dont even know about them doesnt it?

They do sell out quickly. We booked ours in September 2011 for a July 2012 cruise. The Grand Cabana was already sold at that point. We opt for the higher-numbered cabanas as the beach does tend to be less crowded. One time we had #5 and had to keep shooing people away from our shower.

Do they really all sell out online? That seems unfair to folks who dont even know about them doesnt it?

I doubt Carnival cares if its fair or not, as long as they all sell out every time.

Do they really all sell out online? That seems unfair to folks who dont even know about them doesnt it?

This is no different than any other popular shore excursion that sells out online before the cruise sails. As someone mentioned, there are only 15 of them, and 3000+ sailing on one ship, let alone when there are multiple ships in HMC at the same time (although I think only one Carnival ship ports at a time there).

Anyway, we had a cabana on HMC back in 2006. We actually had the aforementioned cream-colored one that was in the high-traffic area. It was not bad at all. The only bad part was that people didn't realize that it was reserved/private, and they would just walk through our cabana as if it were a public throughway, or use the outdoor shower like it was no big deal. It was actually quite humorous. If they had sat down and started eating my chips and salsa and drinking my pop, we would've had words! :D

Do they really all sell out online? That seems unfair to folks who dont even know about them doesnt it?

Yes, they can and do sell out online, but I don't completely agree that it's unfair to anyone. The only people who don't know about them would have to be people who have never been on a Carnival cruise. If they have never been on a Carnival cruise, it's the sensible thing to do a little research on what's offered. It's a rare person who doesn't have internet access, and the cabana rentals are listed on the excursions page of the Carnival website.

I can't say whether they are also featured in the printed brochures because I've never picked one up at the local travel agent's office.

Its more fair doing this as an excursion on line than how it was in the past. Used to be you had to be one of the first people on the ship to get a cabanna. We never could get on board before they were sold out. Now I have a chance to book one as soon as I decide to book a cruise to HMC.

The first cruise to HMC the cabannas were gone when we tried to get one. The next year Carnival had changed the way they booked the cabannas and changed it to the current system and we were able to get a cabanna. I got on the ship and got to pick out one of the cabannas, I think we had the yellow one near the bathrooms. It was the perfect location in the middle, not to close and not to faraway.

HMC is one of the nicest places I have ever been. The beach is beautiful...sand is so white....Why would anyone want to stay inside a cabana...and pay money. Just sit on the beach...the waiters come by and you can order drinks....Its a great day. If you don't like the sun get a clam shell...and sit in the shade.

Love the cabana. My husband has had skin cancer so does not stay out in the sun and I love to swim so it is perfect for us. Wouldn't do HMC without one.

As far as to the fairness--It is an excursion that you book on line as any other excursion. When you book you are encouraged to look at the excursions and at that time book. So I do not see it being unfair.

This cabana was close to restrooms and shuttle stop. Not crowded like the lower numbers.

 

I had #11 in May and loved the location. There is a hammock between #11 and #12 which was nice to relax on. I would recommend anyone from #10-#15 if you'd like to be away from the crowd.

I had #11 in May and loved the location. There is a hammock between #11 and #12 which was nice to relax on. I would recommend anyone from #10-#15 if you'd like to be away from the crowd.

That is not how I envisioned the cabanas at all. It looks like a dumpy little house in this pic. I thought it would be more like a palapas.

That is not how I envisioned the cabanas at all. It looks like a dumpy little house in this pic. I thought it would be more like a palapas.

They are just little shacks but they come with an a/c, a small fridge to keep the fruit and dips cold. Storage for your personal belongings, a misting fan, your own private shower to rinse off, snorkel gear, float matts and the most comfortable cushioned chairs. I would definately book one again when I get back to HMC because I WILL go again. Like the sign says

:)

We booked one back in 09' when we were there. We had the next to last one, and I can not remember the number. It was the best things we did and we will do it again whenever we get back to HMC.. But like others have said, we were shooing people all day. We realized we had to leave someone there if we wanted to go somewhere. People were camped out on the deck when we just went to the restroom. That is really the only complaint, but not enough to ruin our vacation.

We realized we had to leave someone there if we wanted to go somewhere. People were camped out on the deck when we just went to the restroom.

It is incredible how ignorant some of us can be. What part of the sign "Private Cabana" did they not understand.

OT, we have "Reserved Parking" in our upper parking lot at work for the Chairman of the board and the President of our company. Large white signs say Reserved Parking in bold red print. Simply amazing how many people visit the building and park in one of those two spots.

One of those who parked there in the past actually told me he thought that meant it was reserved for him!

Kevin C

We booked a cabana for our cruise in Nov, I saw there was only one left and booked it. Came on CC and got the email address to send to shore excursions and got the reply they stopped taking the cabana # request via email on July 14 and advised me to visit the shore excursion desk upon embarkation. I booked July 26th.

We are super excited! Our sons do not do well in the heat-unlike Mom-they are more like dad-I suspect our sons and he will sit in there while I bask in the glorious sun!

I want to thank everyone for their insights, I have read for a long time to get the higher cabana's and 11 or 12 looks good to me. Hoping we get it.

And I was wondering about the tender, since I read on another HMC post where the tender line was long and they didn't even get to the island until 2 pm or something, I didn't want to waste our money and not get there til 2 so I am really glad to know it is not like that.

I've never had trouble with waiting in line for a tender to go to HMC. If you have a Cabana, you get to go to the front of the line -- just show your tickets for the "excursion".

Now coming back to the ship is a different story... I've waited an hour on the island to come back! That line can get mighty long and hot!