Questions at Labadee

[jes Scott]

5 hours ago, brillohead said:

Bungalows are on the beach at the far end of Columbus Cove.  They are similar to a cabana, but don't have the little "patio" area in the front -- just the roofed area.  

The beach in front of the Bungalows is restricted to Bungalow users only, so it's not wall-to-wall chairs like the rest of Columbus Cove.  

Thanks 😎 that is very helpful! 

 

[poompalou]

For our April 2020 sailing they just switched the cabana pricing for Nellie’s beach from “per cabana” to “per person.” So now a cabana for our family of 3 would set us back > $1,100. No way.


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[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, poompalou said:

For our April 2020 sailing they just switched the cabana pricing for Nellie’s beach from “per cabana” to “per person.” So now a cabana for our family of 3 would set us back > $1,100. No way. ...

 

Really?  That would be unusual, even for Royal.

[poompalou]

31 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Really?  That would be unusual, even for Royal.

 

Yes - at first was actually surprised and thought that the price had DROPPED - it was something like $495 total for the cabana for the day - and the price now shows $375. Then I put it in my cart and it totals $1,124.97 for the three of us to use the cabana for the day. Wondering if there are only a few cabanas left and they're just seeing if people will pay the ridiculous price for the last few to make some more $$. We were waffling on the decision at $495, at least they made the decision easy for us now 🙂

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, poompalou said:

 

Yes - at first was actually surprised and thought that the price had DROPPED - it was something like $495 total for the cabana for the day - and the price now shows $375. Then I put it in my cart and it totals $1,124.97 for the three of us to use the cabana for the day. Wondering if there are only a few cabanas left and they're just seeing if people will pay the ridiculous price for the last few to make some more $$. We were waffling on the decision at $495, at least they made the decision easy for us now 🙂

 

Why did the price jump when you put it in your cart?  Did it make you select all the guests that would be using the cabana?  I know others have been confused by Royal's website and have selected multiple guests when that was not necessary.

[brillohead]

10 hours ago, poompalou said:

For our April 2020 sailing they just switched the cabana pricing for Nellie’s beach from “per cabana” to “per person.” So now a cabana for our family of 3 would set us back > $1,100. No way.


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That's probably just the website glitch... the cruise planner used to say "per adult" or "per person" by the price, but the description itself said that it included up to six people.

 

Try calling and ordering it over the phone, and I bet it's just a one-time fee for the whole family.  

[brillohead]

I just went into my Cruise Planner and grabbed these screenshots for you.

 

 

From this, it makes it look like you'd pay $579 per person, but when you add it to the cart, you get this screen:

 

When you select the "number of guests" in the drop-down below, ONLY SELECT ONE PERSON.  If you're selecting three guests, it's assuming you want three different cabanas, one for each person.  

 

You're not restricted to only buying one per family, so they give you the option of having more than one cabana.  For example, if Grandma and Grandpa are on a cruise with a gazillion adult kids and all the grandkids, G&G can buy two cabanas and have room for a total of twelve people.  

Since your family only needs one cabana, you only need to select one person to purchase it, and up to five other people can join you.  

Last year, our tablemates in the MDR had already purchased a cabana for their family of four, and they invited my son and me to join them, since it included up to six people.  There was no additional charge for us to join them, as pricing is per cabana, not per person.  

[brillohead]

It's a shame that the Royal IT department can't do a better job of constructing the website, but I think it's pretty obvious that their tech is developed by 2nd-grade children in a third world country.  

Two simple text changes would fix this entire problem -- switch out "guests" for "cabanas" on the ordering page:

 

That makes it pretty obvious -- if you want one cabana, you pay the price once.  If you want two cabanas, you pay twice the price.  

But that would be WAY too simple for Royal's IT department to figure out....

 

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by brillohead

[poompalou]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

I just went into my Cruise Planner and grabbed these screenshots for you.

 

 

From this, it makes it look like you'd pay $579 per person, but when you add it to the cart, you get this screen:

 

When you select the "number of guests" in the drop-down below, ONLY SELECT ONE PERSON.  If you're selecting three guests, it's assuming you want three different cabanas, one for each person.  

 

You're not restricted to only buying one per family, so they give you the option of having more than one cabana.  For example, if Grandma and Grandpa are on a cruise with a gazillion adult kids and all the grandkids, G&G can buy two cabanas and have room for a total of twelve people.  

Since your family only needs one cabana, you only need to select one person to purchase it, and up to five other people can join you.  

Last year, our tablemates in the MDR had already purchased a cabana for their family of four, and they invited my son and me to join them, since it included up to six people.  There was no additional charge for us to join them, as pricing is per cabana, not per person.  

 

Thank you so much for the explanation. I had known previously that it was per cabana - but when there was a price change and I actually tried to go through the checkout process, that’s when I got thrown off. I actually called customer service earlier today and they confirmed what you stated above, that only one person needs to book. 

 

Your description of who developed their tech made me laugh out loud :-)

[brillohead]

17 minutes ago, poompalou said:

Your description of who developed their tech made me laugh out loud 🙂

In the words of Sheldon Cooper, it's funny because it's true!!!

Glad you got it all sorted out, and you're going to love you cabana! 

[jes Scott]

1 hour ago, poompalou said:

 

Thank you so much for the explanation. I had known previously that it was per cabana - but when there was a price change and I actually tried to go through the checkout process, that’s when I got thrown off. I actually called customer service earlier today and they confirmed what you stated above, that only one person needs to book. 

 

Your description of who developed their tech made me laugh out loud 🙂

Even knowing that I only needed to book one person, I had the same troubles until I backed up and removed my dh, as it chose us both automatically and gave me the “double price” 

 

I am excited we got a bungalow, I just couldn’t justify the cabana price. Hoping the bungalow works just as well for our group! 

[Clarea]

 

10 hours ago, brillohead said:

It's a shame that the Royal IT department can't do a better job of constructing the website, but I think it's pretty obvious that their tech is developed by 2nd-grade children in a third world country.  

Two simple text changes would fix this entire problem -- switch out "guests" for "cabanas" on the ordering page:

 

That makes it pretty obvious -- if you want one cabana, you pay the price once.  If you want two cabanas, you pay twice the price.  

But that would be WAY too simple for Royal's IT department to figure out....

 

 

 

I'm confused by the child's price.  For those who are getting a cabana that will only be used by children?

[dodgestang]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:34 AM, Snit13 said:

Do you recall if there are chairs in shade which could be accessible to a person in a wheelchair?  8 of us will be in suites but 1 will not be able to walk to get to a chair.  Family can bring her food/drink but have not been able to find out how to get her wheelchair thru the sand to get to chair in shade.  I am familiar with their big wheel chairs to get to/from ship but that wouldn't work for her.

 

Was just there 4 days ago.  Plenty of shade around barefoot beach.  You can also get a tram ride there to make it even easier...so wheel out from ship to the tram...then wheel in from the tram to the seat.  Lunch was lobster tails, steak, lamb chops, shrimp and chicken kabobs, different pasta dishes, burgers, hot dogs, salads...it was really nice.

 

Beach was a nice sandy bottom and sloped off deep pretty quick so it was great for swimming.  My son snorkeled all around the area as well and had a blast.  Great view of the Haitian hills around the coves and of course the ship.  If you are in a suite high enough to get into a cabana there are 2 on beach cabanas that would be pretty easy for a limited mobility person to get into with a view.  The over water ones/hill top ones have too many steps.  There are also ones in the back row....not much view...but super close to food, bar, and bathrooms.

 

It also seemed 'pretty' quiet to us with just the Anthem there.  There were people, but it was pretty laid back/chill and the water never felt crowded.  (last photo shows about how many people peaked in the water at one time)

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by dodgestang

[dodgestang]

dp

Edited August 11, 2019 by dodgestang

[vacationlover_mn]

On 8/10/2019 at 8:05 AM, brillohead said:

Columbus Cove is a larger beach, has a food pavilion, lots of people but more space for them all, and just past the vendor area that some people are scared of.  

 

 

Thanks!  I think is the one I was thinking of 🙂. They also have the “palm tree” covered loungers?

[Hammergirl]

On 8/9/2019 at 10:26 AM, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

 

Only cabanas. 

Bummer - thanks for the clarification. I cannot spend $550+ for just 2 of us so we will have to figure something else out.

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, Hammergirl said:

Bummer - thanks for the clarification. I cannot spend $550+ for just 2 of us so we will have to figure something else out.

You could always hang out with the unwashed masses at Columbus Cove instead of Barefoot Beach. 

 

The beach bungalows there are sectioned off from the main part of the beach and only accessible to bungalow folks, so you wouldn't be hanging out with ALL the commoners, just the ones who paid extra for a bungalow.  

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

Thanks!  I think is the one I was thinking of 🙂. They also have the “palm tree” covered loungers?

There are some palm trees providing shade, but more loungers are in the sun than shade.  

[Hammergirl]

2 minutes ago, brillohead said:

You could always hang out with the unwashed masses at Columbus Cove instead of Barefoot Beach. 

 

The beach bungalows there are sectioned off from the main part of the beach and only accessible to bungalow folks, so you wouldn't be hanging out with ALL the commoners, just the ones who paid extra for a bungalow.  

That would be ideal and I looked into that. Unfortunately they are all sold out already.

[brillohead]

11 minutes ago, Hammergirl said:

That would be ideal and I looked into that. Unfortunately they are all sold out already.

With what they charge for cabanas now, I'm not surprised!!!  

[poompalou]

14 hours ago, brillohead said:

You could always hang out with the unwashed masses at Columbus Cove instead of Barefoot Beach. 

 

The beach bungalows there are sectioned off from the main part of the beach and only accessible to bungalow folks, so you wouldn't be hanging out with ALL the commoners, just the ones who paid extra for a bungalow.  

 

We actually ended up settling on this (the Columbus Cove Bungalows) instead of the Beach Cabanas on Nellie's beach. We went back and forth for a long time and tried to find some good pictures of the Beach Cabanas (which are very hard to find, by the way), and it just looked to me that, for the $125 more you pay for the Beach Cabanas, they weren't actually better from a location standpoint. Of course you have electrical outlets and a ceiling fan that you don't get in the Bungalows but we figured that wasn't worth $125 more.

 

I've heard that if prices drop, you can cancel and re-book. Can anyone tell me how that works? 

[brillohead]

4 minutes ago, poompalou said:

I've heard that if prices drop, you can cancel and re-book. Can anyone tell me how that works? 

If you go into "order history" in the upper corner of your Cruise Planner, you can cancel any previous purchase.  The refund will go to the credit card that you used for the purchase.  If you used some OBC, that will get credited instantly. 

Then you just purchase the item again at the lower price.  

[poompalou]

1 minute ago, brillohead said:

If you go into "order history" in the upper corner of your Cruise Planner, you can cancel any previous purchase.  The refund will go to the credit card that you used for the purchase.  If you used some OBC, that will get credited instantly. 

Then you just purchase the item again at the lower price.  

 

Thanks so much! They already dropped the prices once, for whatever reason it doesn't look like anything but the Waterfront Cabanas at Nellie's Beach were selling (those are already sold out). But the Nellie's beach Beach Cabanas and the Columbus Cove Bungalows are still there. This will be our first time on Labadee and, from what everyone says, these tend to sell relatively quickly. I think they dropped the prices to get things moving, but we called to book since we had some questions - the guy said "oh good thing you're buying, there are only 6 left" - which made me chuckle, because I'm pretty sure that I read that there are only 8 total bungalows? 

 

So I'm wondering if they still don't move (other than our purchase) if they drop the price again. Just want to keep a watch out just in case.

[dpal2208]

Hello again all,

I was wondering if there is a way to email the Concierge on the ship to make a reservation for the Suite cabanas for my sailing?

 

I look forward to your responses.

 

Bon Voyage

 

djp

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, dpal2208 said:

Hello again all,

I was wondering if there is a way to email the Concierge on the ship to make a reservation for the Suite cabanas for my sailing?

 

I look forward to your responses.

 

Bon Voyage

 

djp

 

Concierge email addresses are in this document: 

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Pz4Im5qh4cqd1zE5A9srLm3wGd0_SNZwTdbLTa59EF4/edit#gid=0