Amber Cove Cabana Review (& more!)

[cruizinisthebest]

Good luck. We reserved ours 10 months in advance.

 

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[cnorris64]

Thank you for the review, I have been searching and searching and not finding much info. We will be in Amber Cove in April and I reserved a Hillside Cabana, now I am wondering if that was a good choice because of the "trek" to get to them. I'm wondering if I should change it to either Oceanside or Poolside. :confused:

[cruizinisthebest]

Thank you for the review, I have been searching and searching and not finding much info. We will be in Amber Cove in April and I reserved a Hillside Cabana, now I am wondering if that was a good choice because of the "trek" to get to them. I'm wondering if I should change it to either Oceanside or Poolside. :confused:

Same thing I keep wondering.

 

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[Fufunia]

Thank you for the review, I have been searching and searching and not finding much info. We will be in Amber Cove in April and I reserved a Hillside Cabana, now I am wondering if that was a good choice because of the "trek" to get to them. I'm wondering if I should change it to either Oceanside or Poolside. :confused:

 

Hi Cnorris!

 

I guess it would really depend on who you are traveling with and personal preferences. I think one good thing to note about the hillside cabanas is that the "jacuzzi" is pretty small (1 person, iirc) and does look to take up a significant amount of space on your deck. The hillside cabanas, in my opinion, look to be more geared towards families/couples/people that want a quieter, private space for the day.

 

I really enjoyed the poolside cabanas. The noise wasn't an issue, and if you wanted private time, the windows and doors all close (and lock). ;)

[cnorris64]

Thank you for the reply. It will be my husband and I. I was worried about a long walk uphill or stairs mainly. We both have back issues but I think we will be ok, we will have the whole day to get up there and back down. Lol. We are not worried about doing the pool since we will have beach days at HMC and Grand Turk.

 

 

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[cruizinisthebest]

Thanks! I know at HMC people have said they were able to bring a 5th person without paying extra. Would this have been possible at Amber Cove? How did you find the waiter service?

 

You are very welcome! I know that I was scouring the forums for any info on the port and especially the cabanas. Glad to help others!

 

Fufunia I just wanted to come back and thank you for this helpful post. I actually contacted the excursions department and asked them about which they thought would be better for my family based on the location between the hillside and the poolside cabana. They recommended the poolside ones and allowed me to switch to two of those without having to cancel the hillside ones and wait for a refund, etc. E&B I copied you, because I know you and I were going back and forth between the two. The excursions department confirmed that the Hillside ones are a good walk, lots of steps, but perfect for people who want to be away from the action. We don't want to be quite that isolated, so poolside it is for us. The ocean cabanas are a good ways away from the pool they said.

 

Anyway, thanks again OP. I absolutely cannot wait to get to Amber Cove!

[Fufunia]

Fufunia I just wanted to come back and thank you for this helpful post. I actually contacted the excursions department and asked them about which they thought would be better for my family based on the location between the hillside and the poolside cabana. They recommended the poolside ones and allowed me to switch to two of those without having to cancel the hillside ones and wait for a refund, etc. E&B I copied you, because I know you and I were going back and forth between the two. The excursions department confirmed that the Hillside ones are a good walk, lots of steps, but perfect for people who want to be away from the action. We don't want to be quite that isolated, so poolside it is for us. The ocean cabanas are a good ways away from the pool they said.

 

Anyway, thanks again OP. I absolutely cannot wait to get to Amber Cove!

 

You are very welcome! I hope you and your family enjoy the cabanas as much as we did. Just try to get there early to get the 2 on the end if the view is important to you.

 

When you leave the ship, you walk down the port, make a right towards the pool area, but you go straight to the little rental shack and get your cabana assignment and keys there. We made the mistake of going to the cabana first and then having to loop back to the rental shack.

[cruizinisthebest]

You are very welcome! I hope you and your family enjoy the cabanas as much as we did. Just try to get there early to get the 2 on the end if the view is important to you.

 

When you leave the ship, you walk down the port, make a right towards the pool area, but you go straight to the little rental shack and get your cabana assignment and keys there. We made the mistake of going to the cabana first and then having to loop back to the rental shack.

 

You are so helpful! Thank you!!

 

So the two on the end, make a right at the end of the pier to the little shack. Got it. Do they have numbers?

[E&B]

Fufunia I just wanted to come back and thank you for this helpful post. I actually contacted the excursions department and asked them about which they thought would be better for my family based on the location between the hillside and the poolside cabana. They recommended the poolside ones and allowed me to switch to two of those without having to cancel the hillside ones and wait for a refund, etc. E&B I copied you, because I know you and I were going back and forth between the two. The excursions department confirmed that the Hillside ones are a good walk, lots of steps, but perfect for people who want to be away from the action. We don't want to be quite that isolated, so poolside it is for us. The ocean cabanas are a good ways away from the pool they said.

 

 

 

Anyway, thanks again OP. I absolutely cannot wait to get to Amber Cove!

 

 

Thanks so much!!!! I need to discuss it with DH, but I think based on the last (only) reviews that we had already decided to cancel Hillside. I had booked one of each, cancelled poolside and then added it back last week after the great review. I think with the young adults (18, 21 and 21) it's probably the best. I'm still waiting for a review on Ocean. DD loves the look, it does have water access and I read that it comes with a kayak and SUP, although that's not in the excursions description. But it also looks very isolated and at the end of the day I think the kids would rather be closer to the action. That and we had rented a cabana thru RCL once and had terrible waiter service. I don't want to take the chance that being isolated would result in that again.

[Yuridog]

Wow..this is really good information. Thanks for posting this, as well as the pictures. Looking forward to Amber Cove in February

[Fufunia]

You are so helpful! Thank you!!

 

So the two on the end, make a right at the end of the pier to the little shack. Got it. Do they have numbers?

 

Sorry for the late reply!

 

They DO have numbers. I think it was just 1-4 and the end ones (with views) are 3 and 4? But I am not sure on that. :(

[QTPieRye]

Thanks for so much information! Quick question.... are cruise passengers able to use the pool and loungers without charge? Or is here admission to get into the pool area? In other words, if we don't book a cabana, can we still access the pool and get a lounger?

[Fufunia]

Thanks for so much information! Quick question.... are cruise passengers able to use the pool and loungers without charge? Or is here admission to get into the pool area? In other words, if we don't book a cabana, can we still access the pool and get a lounger?

 

Yes, the pool area is open for all cruise guests. The loungers are free of charge. However, I think you do have to pay to rent an umbrella.

[lovevacadays]

Dang it, I only linked to one picture, and I can't go back to edit the link!! This is the link with more pictures.

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7CHoq6CYCgZVlFfTU9NVWVFdFk&usp=sharing

 

Thank you for the pictures. The bungalow looks great.

Edited February 4, 2016 by MichelleinOC

[HUNNY BUN]

So just to clarify, they don't assign you a cabana number until you arrive there at Amber Cove? I know on HMC when we first got on the ship, we went to the excursion desk to get our cabana number.

[Fufunia]

So just to clarify, they don't assign you a cabana number until you arrive there at Amber Cove? I know on HMC when we first got on the ship, we went to the excursion desk to get our cabana number.

 

Right. Totally different than HMC. We did try to go to the excursions desk to see if we could get a number beforehand, and they told us no.

[shaharis1701]

Thanks for doing the review, we're going there next year. Is Amber Cove like HMC in that you can use your Sign & Sail card for drinks or like Grand Turk and I need cash?? Thanks

[Fufunia]

Thanks for doing the review, we're going there next year. Is Amber Cove like HMC in that you can use your Sign & Sail card for drinks or like Grand Turk and I need cash?? Thanks

 

Hi shaharis! You can use cash or credit at Amber Cove. They do not take the Sign & Sail card. We were able to open a "tab" for our cabana with a credit card.

[goofygal531]

Thank you so much for your detailed review.

 

Are pool towels provided?

[almondglaze]

Is there no beach there?

[RCmommy]

I booked a poolside cabana just last week for our October cruise. I was so excited I came across it as I did not know anything about the AC port yet.

 

I was wondering If I would be able to see our young teens in the pool when sitting in the loungers on the deck (or blocked by the deck rail) but I can see from the photos that I can watch the pool.

 

Very helpful photos and descriptions!!!!!

 

My only thought is that I can foresee other people hopping in the hammock all day long.

[jac-3]

I read someone else's review, and he said that the hammocks have a reserved sign on them with the cabanas.

[Fufunia]

I booked a poolside cabana just last week for our October cruise. I was so excited I came across it as I did not know anything about the AC port yet.

 

I was wondering If I would be able to see our young teens in the pool when sitting in the loungers on the deck (or blocked by the deck rail) but I can see from the photos that I can watch the pool.

 

Very helpful photos and descriptions!!!!!

 

My only thought is that I can foresee other people hopping in the hammock all day long.

 

 

Hi RCMommy!

 

The hammock does have a reserved sign like jac-3 mentioned. I didn't notice anyone using ours, but I only went down there once to use it.

[Fufunia]

Is there no beach there?

 

Hi AlmondGlaze!

 

There is no beach at the Amber Cove part. :( But, I think there are excursions you can book to get to a beach? The ocean cabanas give you ladder-ed access to a roped off area in the ocean, but no sand to be found.

 

I think that HMC and Grand Turk will always out rank Amber Cove for me just because they have beaches. But, its still a beautiful stop and we really enjoyed ourselves.

[Fufunia]

Thank you so much for your detailed review.

 

Are pool towels provided?

 

Hi Goofygal!

 

Sorry for the late reply!

 

I did not see any towels in the cabana, but I can't be 100% positive they weren't in the rental shack. We took our blue towels off the ship.