Cost and how to book retreat cabanas

[CruiserBruce]

Can anyone advise how far in advance you can book a cabana? I did phone HAL services last week to inquire about April 2017 - Panama cruise - but they aren't taking bookings that far out. She suggested calling again in August or so. I'm just afraid of missing it - any recommendations from you folks who have rented them? Thanks :)

 

 

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I am monitoring Koningsdam for March 2017. As a new ship, they just started selling cabanas for the Summer 2016 sailings a month or two ago. So August is pretty relevant. I have booked them on other ships up to about 9-10 months out.

Edited February 16, 2016 by CruiserBruce

[cruz chic]

Can anyone advise how far in advance you can book a cabana? I did phone HAL services last week to inquire about April 2017 - Panama cruise - but they aren't taking bookings that far out. She suggested calling again in August or so. I'm just afraid of missing it - any recommendations from you folks who have rented them? Thanks :)

 

 

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They get confused. When I booked mine it was about February 2015 for my April 2016 cruise. I believe they had to open the year when I booked. Maybe try again in a week or so. If you have Facebook you might pose the question there on Hal's Facebook page. They seem to be pretty quick to address queries there.

[cruz chic]

No, they are not available 24 hours a day. 8-5.

 

Koningsdam, N. Amsterdam, Eurodam, Noordam for sure. Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam either have them, or will soon.

 

I thought it was 9 to 5. I don't remember them being open that early with service. You might be able to sit there but is there service?

[cruz chic]

The standard cabana is meant to be used by two people. Often people will have someone drop by for an hour or so but I have seen the cabana attendants remind people that the cabana is only to be used by two people. (We were on a sailing where four people were using the standard cabana and there was a complaint lodged by another passenger. The loud talking and laughing was a bit much in an area called "The Retreat".)

 

If you want to have four people use the cabana for most of the time, then you should book the family retreat cabana that is specified for four.

 

Unfortunately there is a fine line there. We had squatters on my Noordam cruise last year. They just came right in and plopped themselves on loungers. You bet your life I complained. Why should others get something I paid for? As far as visitors I've never noticed if people drop in and socialize with others in a cabana.

[OVgirl]

We've done Lido Cabanas several times and love them. We did a Retreat Cabana for a day once just to try it. It was great, but we didn't like the distance to the pool. I'm sure that is just a personal preference, but it's our opinion.

 

To us, the Lido Cabanas on NA are much nicer than on Eurodam because of the location. They are on starboard rather than port, so there is a little less foot traffic there.

 

The Lido Cabanas on Eurodam have now been moved to the starboard side, like Nieuw Amsterdam.

[jerseygirl3]

Which ships have the cabanas? And are they available for use 24hrs. a day? Thinking about getting an inside and then a cabana for something in the future.

 

I believe right now the only ships that have them are NA and Eurodam. The Koenigsburg will have only Retreat Cabanas. My understanding is that they are butlered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but you can arrive earlier and stay later, just without butler service. I'm not sure that they are available an entire 24 hours though.

[cruz chic]

I believe right now the only ships that have them are NA and Eurodam. The Koenigsburg will have only Retreat Cabanas. My understanding is that they are butlered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but you can arrive earlier and stay later, just without butler service. I'm not sure that they are available an entire 24 hours though.

 

They are also on the Noordam and Zuiderdam right now. They will be on the koningsdam.

[islandblue]

Thanks to CruiserBruce and cruz chic for the advice. I appreciate it! I did go to the HAL Facebook site and posed a question so will be interesting to see if they reply. Bruce, how do you monitor a cruise to see if cabanas can be booked? Is there a simple way of seeing it that I'm missing? Thanks!

 

 

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[cruz chic]

Thanks to CruiserBruce and cruz chic for the advice. I appreciate it! I did go to the HAL Facebook site and posed a question so will be interesting to see if they reply. Bruce, how do you monitor a cruise to see if cabanas can be booked? Is there a simple way of seeing it that I'm missing? Thanks!

 

 

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Could you please let us know if they get back to you on Facebook?It would be good to know. Hopefully it's a "good" answer.

[CruiserBruce]

The only way to monitor that I am aware of is to call regularly. And ask pointed questions about "when", and what cruise are selling cabanas currently.

[CruiserBruce]

I believe right now the only ships that have them are NA and Eurodam. The Koenigsburg will have only Retreat Cabanas. My understanding is that they are butlered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but you can arrive earlier and stay later, just without butler service. I'm not sure that they are available an entire 24 hours though.

 

If you look at the deck plans, Koningsdam has Lido cabanas as well.

 

We had a cabana on Noordam two years ago. Retreat only. It was the first Vista to get cabanas.

 

Correct, they are "butlered" 9-5. You can get in by 8am, and usually one cabana steward is there. After 5pm is touch and go. The stewards want to clean, sometimes other events are held there after 5. We have been to several cocktail parties there that had nothing to do with the cabanas.

Edited February 16, 2016 by CruiserBruce

[planitohio]

The hours varied for us. By 8:30 they were setting them up. On the morning we entered the Panama Canal they had it set up and staffed by the time we arrived at 6:30.

[ithaca gal]

Unfortunately there is a fine line there. We had squatters on my Noordam cruise last year. They just came right in and plopped themselves on loungers. You bet your life I complained. Why should others get something I paid for? As far as visitors I've never noticed if people drop in and socialize with others in a cabana.

 

We did complain a couple of years ago on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I was lying down, resting after reading, and the couple in the cabana next to us had a mini-party going on with two "guests". They were very raucous and I finally had enough, so I quietly walked over to the steward and asked if he would please say something to them. They were not very happy about it but it's called The Retreat for a reason.

 

We, too, have seen "squatters" but our cabana stewards were great about recognizing them immediately as not having a cabana -- they were shooing them out as soon as they settled in!

[cruz chic]

We did complain a couple of years ago on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I was lying down, resting after reading, and the couple in the cabana next to us had a mini-party going on with two "guests". They were very raucous and I finally had enough, so I quietly walked over to the steward and asked if he would please say something to them. They were not very happy about it but it's called The Retreat for a reason.

 

We, too, have seen "squatters" but our cabana stewards were great about recognizing them immediately as not having a cabana -- they were shooing them out as soon as they settled in!

 

I wonder about people. I was at the dr office yesterday. There were two kids screaming and running around while the parents grinned from ear to ear at them. Another two folks were watching videos full blast on their phones. Some people just don't understand the noise pollution they put out.

[NoWhiners]

I also rented a lido cabana for a 12 night cruise but would not do so again unless they could guarantee me a fan. We went for the lido cabana as my daughter was 10 and I wanted to keep an eye on her in the pool. It was far too hot and I kept requesting a fan from the steward who was looking after the cabanas but to no avail. I spent majority of my time at one of the tables near the lido pool.

 

 

Yes, this is the biggest issue with Lido cabanas. We wanted to be closer to the pool and food, so took the risk. When we were on NA last March, we took pix of all the cabanas and posted them. I don't have the link handy but if you search you will find it. We found that the cabanas on the ends had US and European outlets above the windows. if we ever did this again, we would get an end Lido cabana and bring our own small fan/short extension cord to move air. Or book retreat cabanas if you can!

 

It worked OK for us--we just jumped in the pool a couple of times and found that cooled us off enough. But I know that might not work for everyone. BTW, if you don't want to jump in the pool, you could use the showers to just rinse off and a get a little wet and stya cool. Or jump in the hot tub!

 

Good luck

ML

[jerseygirl3]

I wonder about people. I was at the dr office yesterday. There were two kids screaming and running around while the parents grinned from ear to ear at them. Another two folks were watching videos full blast on their phones. Some people just don't understand the noise pollution they put out.

 

Oh, the stories I could tell. I'm a pediatric nurse. I can't tell you how rude parents and kids can be (and honestly, I don't blame the kids, the parents don't parent!) Friday I had a mother with her two teenage kids. When I called their name to bring them back, they didn't respond because their faces were buried in their phones. I called a second time, and they proceeded to get up and follow me to the exam room. Once in there, while I attempted to get a history on the sick child from the mother, she ignored me and was texting on the phone. I waited a few seconds and then politely said, "would you mind putting away the phones." She became incensed. I pointed to the sign on the wall requesting that all cell phones be "put away during your child's visit, as the nurse and dr give you their full attention and we would appreciate you giving us yours." She said she was "busy" writing an email. Now I should have said I will come back later when you've finished. Instead, like a jerk, I waited for her to finish. I learned my lesson.

[cruz chic]

Oh, the stories I could tell. I'm a pediatric nurse. I can't tell you how rude parents and kids can be (and honestly, I don't blame the kids, the parents don't parent!) Friday I had a mother with her two teenage kids. When I called their name to bring them back, they didn't respond because their faces were buried in their phones. I called a second time, and they proceeded to get up and follow me to the exam room. Once in there, while I attempted to get a history on the sick child from the mother, she ignored me and was texting on the phone. I waited a few seconds and then politely said, "would you mind putting away the phones." She became incensed. I pointed to the sign on the wall requesting that all cell phones be "put away during your child's visit, as the nurse and dr give you their full attention and we would appreciate you giving us yours." She said she was "busy" writing an email. Now I should have said I will come back later when you've finished. Instead, like a jerk, I waited for her to finish. I learned my lesson.

 

You must have the patience of a saint. That's ridiculous. It's a different world.

[dickalp]

We are sailing on the Koningsdam and renting a Family Retreat Cabana.  We had one on the Oosterdam last year and it was lovely.  I have been seeing here, though, that the Family Retreat Cabanas on the Koningsdam are MUCH smaller.  Can anyone advise if they have experienced this and what you/they did about it, if anything?

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, they are smaller. What are you supposed to do about them? They are still set up for 4 people, but they, and the regular cabanas, are smaller.

 

Reading back through this, I see in 2016, I thought K Dam was going to have Lido Cabanas as well. It does not have Lido cabanas.

[wdw1972]

8 hours ago, dickalp said:

We are sailing on the Koningsdam and renting a Family Retreat Cabana.  We had one on the Oosterdam last year and it was lovely.  I have been seeing here, though, that the Family Retreat Cabanas on the Koningsdam are MUCH smaller.  Can anyone advise if they have experienced this and what you/they did about it, if anything?

The family cabana has 2 chaise lounges and 2 standard straight chairs behind them - that's how it fits 4 people!  There's no way 4 people can enjoy the cabana at the same time.  We were in the cabana next door, and a party of 3 had the family cabana.  They had the stewards remove the 2 sitting chairs and replace them with a 3rd chaise lounge - that's the only way the 3 of them could relax in there, and it was tight!  I have one booked on Nieuw Statendam in December, to be shared with 2 other passengers, so we'll ask for the same swapping of chairs to give each of us (3) a chaise lounge.  If I was part of a party of 4, I'd book 2 regular cabanas.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[*Miss G*]

10 hours ago, dickalp said:

We are sailing on the Koningsdam and renting a Family Retreat Cabana.  We had one on the Oosterdam last year and it was lovely.  I have been seeing here, though, that the Family Retreat Cabanas on the Koningsdam are MUCH smaller.  Can anyone advise if they have experienced this and what you/they did about it, if anything?

 

My experience with the Koningsdam family cabana was that it was perfect for our needs.  Our family consisted of my parents and my sister and I.   Because we are all pretty independent it went like this:  My parents would relax in the two lounge chairs and my sister and I would pop in and sit in the two chairs when we weren’t elsewhere.  The stewards were amazing and looked after my parents like they were their own.  We all went back and forth into the sunny loungers or to the seating area if we had ordered a meal.  We had a pattern.  I was there early in the morning with a coffee and then I would order breakfast.  My parents would show up later.  My sister popped in and out, depending upon the lectures offered.  Me too.  We really enjoyed our experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.  

[Texasgrillchef]

Looks like except for the last few posts, these posts are all over 4 years old.

 

once Covid-19 is over and we all get back to cruising... I allready have a cruise booked for next year on the Westerdam...

 

so my question... does anyone have a pricing for the Cabanas that is at least as recent as late 2019 or for 2020? The latest pricing PDF I have found is for 2017. I a, sure they have changed the prices since then, I also found a PDF for 2015, and in 2 years their prices did increase. So I am sure the prices have gone up again in 3 years since 2017.

[CruiserBruce]

28 minutes ago, Texasgrillchef said:

Looks like except for the last few posts, these posts are all over 4 years old.

 

once Covid-19 is over and we all get back to cruising... I allready have a cruise booked for next year on the Westerdam...

 

so my question... does anyone have a pricing for the Cabanas that is at least as recent as late 2019 or for 2020? The latest pricing PDF I have found is for 2017. I a, sure they have changed the prices since then, I also found a PDF for 2015, and in 2 years their prices did increase. So I am sure the prices have gone up again in 3 years since 2017.

Actually...they haven't changed the prices since about 2017 or 18. We had one booked on N. Amsterdam for later next month. Still a great price.