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Royal Palms Beach Cabana or Calico Jacks?


Banana15
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On 1/25/2019 at 11:28 AM, kapcruiser said:

Does Royal Palms have a pool? If so, can you use it or is there an additional charge?

 

On 1/25/2019 at 2:00 PM, TravellingBritNY said:

Royal Palms has an adults-only pool which is available at no extra charge.

 

On 1/30/2018 at 7:16 PM, scvgirl said:

We had our taxi driver take us to Hemingway's. Beautiful beach, restaurant, pool, shade, umbrellas, loungers and hot tub. The hotel is closed for renovation, but the facilities are open and wonderful. You can order drinks and food right on the beach, no need to clean up for the restaurant.

 

Anyone have current info?

I just read a review from a cruiser who said the people at Royal Palms took away all food and drink from those entering.

We have multiple food allergies and usually bring lunch from the ship so if that's accurate it won't work for us.

Is Hemingways still open?

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Hemingways has been closed for a while, now, and doesn't offer any beach facilities.

 

I'm not surprised that Royal Palms take away your food and drink - if you want to bring your own, then I would recommend Public Beach, where you can take all the food and drink you want.  it would be like walking into a bar with your own booze, or a restaurant with your own food.

 

Luckily you have other options.

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35 minutes ago, TravellingBritNY said:

  it would be like walking into a bar with your own booze, or a restaurant with your own food.

 

Except we don't pay $39 to sit in a restaurant or bar.

($2/pp entrance, $10 each lounger and $15 for the umbrella)

 

We'll try Public Beach.

Edited by chamima
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

We rented a beach cabana at RP last week for $125 ( 4 people).  Beach cabanas have a table and 4 chairs inside and 4 loungers in front.    There were three cruise ships in port and the beaches became very crowded, so we were happy to have made a reservation.  A storm blew in unexpectedly so we had shelter from the rain as well as from the sunshine.  Taxi was $5 pp from the port.  We ordered drinks and snacks that we found somewhat pricey but the service was great.  We would go to RP again.  

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/18/2019 at 12:08 AM, seastar2 said:

looking for update info....  last minute change to our itinerary. Haven't been to GC in a few years and none of us remember which beach we went to...     

 

How much are chairs and umbrella at Calico Jack??  If we head there around noon will there be chairs available??   There are three ships in port with us..   We would rather walk around town first. 

 

 

$5 for loungers, $10 for umbrella

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  • 7 months later...

Any advantage to Royal Palms over Calico Jacks?  It is just DH and I.  Don't need a cabana....just a couple loungers and umbrella, restroom, a nice beach and possibly food depending on how long we stay.

 

And is the beach just as nice at both locations?  

Edited by LuCruise
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2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Any advantage to Royal Palms over Calico Jacks?  It is just DH and I.  Don't need a cabana....just a couple loungers and umbrella, restroom, a nice beach and possibly food depending on how long we stay.

 

And is the beach just as nice at both locations?  

 

You don't have to get a cabana at Royal Palms. After always doing Calico Jacks for years we did Royal Palms last time. I don't plan to do Calico Jacks again. In a few weeks we will be doing Royal Palms again. I prefer the beach at Royal Palms and the facilities.

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1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

 

You don't have to get a cabana at Royal Palms. After always doing Calico Jacks for years we did Royal Palms last time. I don't plan to do Calico Jacks again. In a few weeks we will be doing Royal Palms again. I prefer the beach at Royal Palms and the facilities.

Thanks.  Is it a quieter beach?  Or it has nicer sand, etc.  Enjoy your cruise!

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18 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Any advantage to Royal Palms over Calico Jacks?  It is just DH and I.  Don't need a cabana....just a couple loungers and umbrella, restroom, a nice beach and possibly food depending on how long we stay.

 

And is the beach just as nice at both locations?  

 

While the beach might be a bit wider at Calico Jacks/Public Beach, I think that the facilities (specifically bathrooms) are a bit nicer at Royal Palms.  The primary advantage of RP for a party of two adults is that they have an adults-only pool.  (IMO, the unique draw of the CJ/PB area is a playground and such aimed at kids.)

 

https://royalpalmscayman.com/cruising/

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16 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Thanks.  Is it a quieter beach?  Or it has nicer sand, etc.  Enjoy your cruise!


Both beaches are going to be crowded. The beaches at each are good. I like the ambience and facilities at Royal Palm. At Calico Jacks the rental chair vendors were fighting with each other to rent to me. The chairs were in poor condition. On the other hand the prices were low. Food and beverage costs are probably lower at Calico Jacks. If free WiFi is of any importance to you the WiFi at Royal Palm was good. The WiFi at Calico was poor and intermittent.   

Edited by Charles4515
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Thanks for the replies.  Will probably stay at the beach as we can sit by a pool anywhere, but there is no beach near our home.  Good to know the chairs and people selling them are better at Royal Palms.  

Need to decide if the additional cost is worth it for our needs (as I assume Royal Palms is more expensive overall)...as really just need a couple loungers & umbrella, restrooms, and a beach access,

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for the info, I will be in GC on Monday with family.  I thought CJ, but after reading this post and looking into info online, I have decided RPBC is the right decision for our family, husband, me and 3 adult sons.

 

Now I wish I booked a Cabana!

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Just a note that if you want Calico Jacks to specify it.  When we got off the ship, the taxi guy just asked if we wanted 7 mile beach.  The (shared taxi) dropped us off at Coral Beach, right next to Royal Palms. It was totally fine for us and we had a lovely day, and no complaints...bathrooms, lovely beach, and we could get a chair in the shade without umbrella (we didn't order any food as we just stayed a few hours)....but if you want Calico Jacks, you need to request it.

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That was one of my questions..if you just say Calico Jacks to the shuttle, they will drop you there?  And there is no entrance fee, just for the chair/umbrella rental?  Also, I have read of some water toy/trampoline, is there a fee for this?

 

For Royal Palm, is it cheaper if you book a cabana day of, and do they usually book up?  Will they rent the pool cabanas if you have kids even if they dont use the pool?  Also, I read all cabanas are for 6, we are 7 people (5 plus 2 teens), will they allow this, we would not even all be in the cabana most of the time.  This would be a defining factor for us, as I would never rent 2 of them for the 7 of us, so hoping they are flexible. What is the difference in royal vs palm cabanas, they are the same price, but the royal seem a bit nicer location/ closer to restroom?

 

Are they both around the same distance from the port?  Thank you in advance!

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14 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

That was one of my questions..if you just say Calico Jacks to the shuttle, they will drop you there? 

Yes they will.  It's not a "shuttle" though, it's a taxi.

 

 

14 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

 

And there is no entrance fee, just for the chair/umbrella rental?  Also, I have read of some water toy/trampoline, is there a fee for this?

 

Correct - no entrance fee.  I haven't seen the water toys/trampolines there in a while, but Red Sail Sports has a place there where you can rent Stand-up Paddleboards and the like.

 

14 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

For Royal Palm, is it cheaper if you book a cabana day of, and do they usually book up? 

 

Will they rent the pool cabanas if you have kids even if they dont use the pool?  Also, I read all cabanas are for 6, we are 7 people (5 plus 2 teens), will they allow this, we would not even all be in the cabana most of the time.  This would be a defining factor for us, as I would never rent 2 of them for the 7 of us, so hoping they are flexible. What is the difference in royal vs palm cabanas, they are the same price, but the royal seem a bit nicer location/ closer to restroom?

 

Are they both around the same distance from the port?  Thank you in advance!

 

It is not cheaper to book same-day.  I have no idea whether they fill up, though.

 

I don't know the policy about the pool cabanas, sorry.

 

Frankly I would contact them with your questions, as they are fairly specific to your group.

 

Calico Jacks is further from the port than Royal Palms, or the new option Coral Beach, which is right by Royal Palms.

 

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Thank you!  I did look Coral Beach up, but their site has no info?

 

We are trying to do a stingray city excursion, really just want to do that then beach,  but Im finding most places only offer it with other packages/stops, taking up time we would prefer at the beach.  We will be there 8-4, what is the latest time one would suggest arriving at 7 mile beach from their excursion to at least have a few hours plus have time to get back before 4?  Most of the tours leave around 10/11 and are a few hours long..

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