Assignment of cabanas on Ocean Caye

[Shippy]

    Think my question before has got lost in the muddle of other threads...

 

For people who have already been on the island & rented a cabana.... How are they assigned? I know it is not when you make the booking. When I call the MSC people, they do not have a clue.  I am hoping you can pick one out ahead of time & not have to rush down to the beach as soon as they dock.

thanks

[Rob-Bob]

How would you know what to choose if there was a choice.  Seems like cabana numbers and locations are a mystery.  Here are some questions and a few answers but still pretty cloudy:

________________________________________________________________________

This seems like it should be a very straight forward question but I can not find this information anywhere.  Maybe someone visiting OC can answer some or all of the following:

 

1. $249 - OCEAN CAY BEACH CABANA (max. 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL

2. $349 - DELUXE OCEAN CAY BEACH CABANA (max 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL

3. $399 - OCEAN VIEW YACHT CLUB CABANA (max 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL (YC GUESTS EXCLUSIVE)

4. $449 - BEACHFRONT YACHT CLUB CABANA (max 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL (YC GUESTS EXCLUSIVE)

 

The above info are the options on OC for cabanas.  Can someone provide the cabana numbers and beach location for each of the categories?  I looked at some videos and the highest cabana number that I saw was 29.  Does anyone know how many there are in total?  Also is there any difference in the cabana structure/size for any of the classes or is it only location and number of rafts/snorkel gear etc.?

 

For guests who have visited how did you get a cabana number - was it simply assigned to you by MSC and when and how did you learn which one you were assigned to?  The whole cabana issue seems unaddressed anywhere. 

 

1  Beach name, starting number, ending number

2 Beach name, starting number, ending number

3 Beach name, starting number, ending number

4 Beach name, starting number, ending number

 

Anyone????

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Answer to the question on Beachfront Cabanas in YC. They start furthest from the YC Restaurant at #1. they go along the beach to #6 which is right next to the Restaurant. Then # 7 is on other side of the restaurant and then they wrap around north side of the island from there going up in numbers. So my friend who asked which one should you shoot for? I’d say go with #5 or better #6. Then on other side of the restaurany #7 then #8. Up from there is further as you increase in numbers. 

 

Important: 1-6 are your premium beach front Cabanas, 7-13 are your Oceanview Cananas for leas cost with a rocky shore. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

It looks like maybe the deluxe beach cabanas are along Bimini Beach and the regular beach cabanas are on the North Beach?

 

Maybe all of the cabanas (all 4 classes) are after you cross over the bridge to the YC.

[Shippy]

3 hours ago, Rob-Bob said:

How would you know what to choose if there was a choice.  Seems like cabana numbers and locations are a mystery.  Here are some questions and a few answers but still pretty cloudy:

________________________________________________________________________

This seems like it should be a very straight forward question but I can not find this information anywhere.  Maybe someone visiting OC can answer some or all of the following:

 

1. $249 - OCEAN CAY BEACH CABANA (max. 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL

2. $349 - DELUXE OCEAN CAY BEACH CABANA (max 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL

3. $399 - OCEAN VIEW YACHT CLUB CABANA (max 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL (YC GUESTS EXCLUSIVE)

4. $449 - BEACHFRONT YACHT CLUB CABANA (max 6 pax) - ALL DAY RENTAL (YC GUESTS EXCLUSIVE)

 

The above info are the options on OC for cabanas.  Can someone provide the cabana numbers and beach location for each of the categories?  I looked at some videos and the highest cabana number that I saw was 29.  Does anyone know how many there are in total?  Also is there any difference in the cabana structure/size for any of the classes or is it only location and number of rafts/snorkel gear etc.?

 

For guests who have visited how did you get a cabana number - was it simply assigned to you by MSC and when and how did you learn which one you were assigned to?  The whole cabana issue seems unaddressed anywhere. 

 

1  Beach name, starting number, ending number

2 Beach name, starting number, ending number

3 Beach name, starting number, ending number

4 Beach name, starting number, ending number

 

Anyone????

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Answer to the question on Beachfront Cabanas in YC. They start furthest from the YC Restaurant at #1. they go along the beach to #6 which is right next to the Restaurant. Then # 7 is on other side of the restaurant and then they wrap around north side of the island from there going up in numbers. So my friend who asked which one should you shoot for? I’d say go with #5 or better #6. Then on other side of the restaurany #7 then #8. Up from there is further as you increase in numbers. 

 

Important: 1-6 are your premium beach front Cabanas, 7-13 are your Oceanview Cananas for leas cost with a rocky shore. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

It looks like maybe the deluxe beach cabanas are along Bimini Beach and the regular beach cabanas are on the North Beach?

 

Maybe all of the cabanas (all 4 classes) are after you cross over the bridge to the YC.

   You can forget about getting any good info from MSC. When you call direct, they do not know.

I asked them for a direct number to their excursion department. Of course there is no direct number so they gave me their direct email.

Surprise, surprise.... I emailed them with those questions 2 weeks ago & have not had any reply.

[researchfreak90]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

    Think my question before has got lost in the muddle of other threads...

 

For people who have already been on the island & rented a cabana.... How are they assigned? I know it is not when you make the booking. When I call the MSC people, they do not have a clue.  I am hoping you can pick one out ahead of time & not have to rush down to the beach as soon as they dock.

thanks

I sail Seaside 21st. Back on 28th. We have 2 cabanas booked in our group and we will attempt to get them together so it will get me some insight into the reservation system, I will report back.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

2 hours ago, researchfreak90 said:

I sail Seaside 21st. Back on 28th. We have 2 cabanas booked in our group and we will attempt to get them together so it will get me some insight into the reservation system, I will report back.

 

That's kind of you.  I don't understand why those who have already been to Ocean Cay and have reserved cabanas don't return to answer these questions.  Although generally I find less participation on the MSC board than on other boards.

[researchfreak90]

14 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

That's kind of you.  I don't understand why those who have already been to Ocean Cay and have reserved cabanas don't return to answer these questions.  Although generally I find less participation on the MSC board than on other boards.

No problem. I think the traffic in this board will grow with time. Remember that MSC is new to North America and their fleet is very young when compared to the busier boards of RCL and CCL. So with time and growth it will get busier. Everyone that uses it now needs to remember to report back. A lot of times, and i am guilty of this as well, people are on these boards researching their next cruise and until they have the next one booked and are looking at cruises again they may not visit these boards so it may take months for a lot of the users to start reporting back. I will be back on here when I get back as I have a RCL Freedom cruise in May 2020 and a MSC Grandiosa cruise in August 2021 so I have plenty to research!

[rikitikitavii]

23 hours ago, Shippy said:

    Think my question before has got lost in the muddle of other threads...

 

For people who have already been on the island & rented a cabana.... How are they assigned? I know it is not when you make the booking. When I call the MSC people, they do not have a clue.  I am hoping you can pick one out ahead of time & not have to rush down to the beach as soon as they dock.

thanks

We were on OC in a YC cabana on December 13th.  The cabana #s was given day of the "excursion" by our butler, who met us at the YC restaurant on OC, and took us to the cabana.  There was a list at the lounge but I did not request the # at that time.

Hope this helps, not sure how they were handled outside the YC.

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

7 hours ago, rikitikitavii said:

We were on OC in a YC cabana on December 13th.  The cabana #s was given day of the "excursion" by our butler, who met us at the YC restaurant on OC, and took us to the cabana.  There was a list at the lounge but I did not request the # at that time.

Hope this helps, not sure how they were handled outside the YC.

 

 

Thanks for responding.  It would appear then that one cannot choose the cabana one wants.  I wonder if that will change as they get more experience with Ocean Cay.  We were only the second ship to call there.  I thought the butlers were run ragged trying to serve drinks in the sand.  Talked to Maria when we were back onboard because I had noticed she was wearing knee braces.  One of the things I think they could do to avoid wearing out the staff would be to hire some locals to deliver drinks to those in cabanas and on the beach.  I'm sure the locals would be glad of the jobs, I know our cart driver said he was.  It's a beautiful place and I'm sure it will get better with time.  And MSC seems willing to listen to its customers.  Ken Muscat was talking to everyone in the Yacht Club Lounge and seemed to be interested in what we had to say.

[Hlitner]

We were just on Ocean Cay (Yacht Club) this past Monday.  I took a long walk around the entire island just to check out the various facilities.  To be very blunt, we were completely underwhelmed by the cabanas.  Why?  The beach front cabanas are actually located behind the regular chairs/loungers.  So you are paying a lot of money to be further from the water.  There is not room in the cabana for a few loungers (they do have chairs) so when we did see some cabana users in loungers they had put them in front of their cabana.  I guess it was possible to rearrange furniture and cram a couple of loungers partially inside the cabana but we did not see this happen.   When I did my walk around a large majority of the cabanas were NOT rented and remained empty.  Personally, we were very happy to just grab a couple of nice loungers right on the water line (far in front of the nearest cabana) and use a beach umbrella (now free for those in the YC and only about $13 for others.

 

I also do not understand the term "locals."  What you might refer to as a local is simply a worker brought to the island by MSC to do various tasks (including construction).  Many of these folks are flown in from Freeport and work on the island for about 3 weeks before getting 1 week off at home.  We talked to several of these workers (who do provide support during cruise ship visits) and they were really nice folks grateful to get the jobs on Ocean Cay.  Quite a few were left unemployed after last Falls hurricane damage on their home island.

 

And by the way, the biggest issue we saw on the island was the lack of adequate rest room facilities.  This was particularly bad at the Yacht Club area where there was a single bathroom to serve everyone (male and female).  With about 150 YC folks sharing a single toilet the situation can get ….urgent.  Elsewhere on the island there are a few rest room buildings where we noticed relatively short lines.

 

One senior officer in the Hotel Department made it clear that Ocean Cay is a "work in progress" and noted that for anything this new there is a learning curve.  Personally we were impressed by what we saw and think the future potential is excellent.  I was happy to be among the first few groups to visit the island and look forward to seeing how the facility improves over time.  For us it was really a fun way to spend a nice day.

 

Hank

[psmarkle]

Hank:

 

Thank you for your post, I picked up a lot of new info (free umbrellas, locations of bathrooms, etc).  I am on the fence right now about the YC cabanas so I'm soaking up any & all reviews. Wife's main concern is her need for shade as she's very light skinned.  The Italian in me needs the sun.  Did you notice if the umbrellas were plentiful in the YC area or do I need to dive overboard and do a 500m freestyle sprint while holding our gear with my teeth and swim to the beach to "mark our territory" with pool towels and flip flops before the ship finishes docking? LOL 😂

[tcmagnum]

1 hour ago, psmarkle said:

Hank:

 

Thank you for your post, I picked up a lot of new info (free umbrellas, locations of bathrooms, etc).  I am on the fence right now about the YC cabanas so I'm soaking up any & all reviews. Wife's main concern is her need for shade as she's very light skinned.  The Italian in me needs the sun.  Did you notice if the umbrellas were plentiful in the YC area or do I need to dive overboard and do a 500m freestyle sprint while holding our gear with my teeth and swim to the beach to "mark our territory" with pool towels and flip flops before the ship finishes docking? LOL 😂

 Great question...Am wondering this myself.

Therefore, I have pre-booked a cabana (we are not YC) so we have one and will decide the week of the cruise if we keep it or not (we go Feb 1).  Also want to see if they change locations/amenities in the cabanas.  We might end up reserving 3 or 4 umbrellas and make our own larger shade area with ocean front chairs.

 

[TrinaLC]

Hank, from the pictures it looks as though the ocean view YC cabanas are right up against the water (albeit not on the beach). Is this correct?  A better view?

[Kmkub]

14 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 sland.

 

And by the way, the biggest issue we saw on the island was the lack of adequate rest room facilities.  This was particularly bad at the Yacht Club area where there was a single bathroom to serve everyone (male and female).  With about 150 YC folks sharing a single toilet the situation can get ….urgent.  Elsewhere on the island there are a few rest room buildings where we noticed relatively short lines. 

Yikes! That's a pretty big miss.... 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Yikes! That's a pretty big miss.... 

But it is not all bad for the YC folks.  The restaurant (exclusively for YC guests) on the island is very nice with fantastic views of the sea.  There is a nearby building that will be the kitchen for this restaurant but the interior is not finished.  So the YC currently has two food trucks where the lunch items are prepared and then served by waiters.  The others guests primarily rely on a buffet where we noticed two lines.  The buffet food were the usual burgers, hotdogs, BBQ chicken and some type of ribs (we only looked but did not eat at the  buffet).  

 

One other interesting facet of the Ocean Cay is that it currently takes about 2 hours (after docking) before passengers are permitted to leave the ship.  That time is used so that the crew can move supplies ashore and get everything set-up.  Since most of the ships will stay at Ocean Cay until late at night, the delay getting ashore is not a big problem although we head some grumbling that other cruise lines do not need 2 hours to prep their islands.

 

Hank

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

The Yacht Club building on the island is gorgeous.  I was surprised to find it open as rumor had it that the Yacht Club area would not be finished until some time next spring.  The restroom issue was a bit surprising, but I suspect they will deal with it.

[DCGuy64]

22 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

The Yacht Club building on the island is gorgeous.  I was surprised to find it open as rumor had it that the Yacht Club area would not be finished until some time next spring.  The restroom issue was a bit surprising, but I suspect they will deal with it.

Same here. Only one bathroom was indeed a bit of a challenge. That said, it was a pretty nice bathroom, I thought. The folded towels (as opposed to paper) were a nice touch.

[Hlitner]

On 12/18/2019 at 12:01 PM, TrinaLC said:

Hank, from the pictures it looks as though the ocean view YC cabanas are right up against the water (albeit not on the beach). Is this correct?  A better view?

No, some are actually located behind several rows of sunbeds (used by those not in the cabanas).   There are also a few other YC cabanas located further from the beaches but in quieter areas with fantastic views.  The current set-up is interesting in that the YC beach area is on the eastern shoreline which is open to the sea.  Several other sun/swim areas on the island are on the lagoon which provides a more sheltered area for swimming.  Or course those in the YC area can walk a few hundred yards to one of those other swimming areas.

 

Another issue that caught our attention are the shark nets.  MSC has seen fit to protect most of the island's swim areas (including the entire interior lagoon) with large shark nets.  However, the swimming area directly off the YC beach has no nets!  Perhaps they are trying to tell the YC folks something :).  DW and I are avid snorkelers (and sometimes SCUBA divers) and  have never been concerned about sharks in the Bahamas....but do understand that many folks have a real phobia about sharks.  One of the beach staff folks told me that the lifeguard (the YC does have a lifeguard stand) would be watching for and give any necessary warnings if he saw sharks.   We did not notice any sharks in our swimming area (although somebody else posted some shark pictures) although a few large stingrays did catch our eye as they tried to see if they could fly :).  Speaking of shark nets, I did walk over to the marked "snorkel area" which is on the far side of Ocean Cay from the YC area.  That particular area (along a beach on the southern side of the island) was netted with a very long shark net located over 50 yards off shore.  The lifeguard told me that snorkelers and swimmers were not permitted to go beyond the netting.  We both had a good laugh when I mentioned that there were no nets at the YC area.  Perhaps this will be a future improvement.

 

Before anyone asks, DW and I did not do any snorkeling on Ocean Cay...even though we had our own equipment.  One reason was we were just too lazy and another was that we did not notice any reefs in the snorkel/swim areas.  The YC lifeguard suggested we explore some of the rocky areas adjacent to YC swim area, but a strong wind was blowing towards those rocks making snorkeling somewhat of a challenge.  We decided to save our snorkel habit for the next visit.

 

Hank

[tymike]

Thank you Hank, for the above information on the cabanas.  I just booked the ocean view vs. ocean front based on your description.  Much appreciated!

[Hlitner]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:58 PM, tymike said:

Thank you Hank, for the above information on the cabanas.  I just booked the ocean view vs. ocean front based on your description.  Much appreciated!

I hope you enjoy your visit and cabana.  Some of those "Ocean View" locations offered fantastic views.  But for what you pay for those cabanas they should at least have built a private rest room :).

 

Hank

[TrinaLC]

Hank, I was asking about the "ocean view" (as compared to "beach view") cabanas.  It seems to me that the beach view ones (the ones actually on the beach) look very undesirable, for the reasons you articulate - they are not in fact beach "front", but behind rows of loungers.

 

The ones labelled "ocean view" are not in fact on the beach/swimming area - and from some pictures, looked much better to me (views, and in fact right up against the water - though not swimming area).  

 

Could it be the ones you mentioned as "further away, great views" are in fact the "ocean view" ones?   (Still seem way over priced to me ...)

 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, TrinaLC said:

Hank, I was asking about the "ocean view" (as compared to "beach view") cabanas.  It seems to me that the beach view ones (the ones actually on the beach) look very undesirable, for the reasons you articulate - they are not in fact beach "front", but behind rows of loungers.

 

The ones labelled "ocean view" are not in fact on the beach/swimming area - and from some pictures, looked much better to me (views, and in fact right up against the water - though not swimming area).  

 

Could it be the ones you mentioned as "further away, great views" are in fact the "ocean view" ones?   (Still seem way over priced to me ...)

 

Yes, we saw some cabanas, in places not far from the YC area that were placed on slightly higher ground a bit away from the beach.  I assume they are categorized as "Ocean View" although we never spent much time looking at the various categories and prices for the cabanas.  In the YC area we simply chose loungers on the beach that were located a few feet from the water and used a large beach umbrella (now free for those in the OC) to get some shade.  The staff gave us pretty good service on the beach taking and delivering our drink orders.  Even if the cabanas had been free we would have had no interest.   MSC will likely need to reduce the rental cost or provide additional amenities or we think that empty cabanas will be in the majority..

 

Hank

[aprilF]

On 12/19/2019 at 4:35 PM, Hlitner said:

No, some are actually located behind several rows of sunbeds (used by those not in the cabanas).   There are also a few other YC cabanas located further from the beaches but in quieter areas with fantastic views.  The current set-up is interesting in that the YC beach area is on the eastern shoreline which is open to the sea.  Several other sun/swim areas on the island are on the lagoon which provides a more sheltered area for swimming.  Or course those in the YC area can walk a few hundred yards to one of those other swimming areas.

 

Another issue that caught our attention are the shark nets.  MSC has seen fit to protect most of the island's swim areas (including the entire interior lagoon) with large shark nets.  However, the swimming area directly off the YC beach has no nets!  Perhaps they are trying to tell the YC folks something :).  DW and I are avid snorkelers (and sometimes SCUBA divers) and  have never been concerned about sharks in the Bahamas....but do understand that many folks have a real phobia about sharks.  One of the beach staff folks told me that the lifeguard (the YC does have a lifeguard stand) would be watching for and give any necessary warnings if he saw sharks.   We did not notice any sharks in our swimming area (although somebody else posted some shark pictures) although a few large stingrays did catch our eye as they tried to see if they could fly :).  Speaking of shark nets, I did walk over to the marked "snorkel area" which is on the far side of Ocean Cay from the YC area.  That particular area (along a beach on the southern side of the island) was netted with a very long shark net located over 50 yards off shore.  The lifeguard told me that snorkelers and swimmers were not permitted to go beyond the netting.  We both had a good laugh when I mentioned that there were no nets at the YC area.  Perhaps this will be a future improvement.

 

Before anyone asks, DW and I did not do any snorkeling on Ocean Cay...even though we had our own equipment.  One reason was we were just too lazy and another was that we did not notice any reefs in the snorkel/swim areas.  The YC lifeguard suggested we explore some of the rocky areas adjacent to YC swim area, but a strong wind was blowing towards those rocks making snorkeling somewhat of a challenge.  We decided to save our snorkel habit for the next visit.

 

Hank

We were on OC 12/17 and saw at least two sharks within the nets, granted they were only 3-4 feet so not huge. They did have the beach closed with two guards there watching the sharks and making sure no one went into the water. We saw a much larger shark outside the nets, near the kayak routes. 

 

We found adequate shade, provided you didn’t feel like you needed to be right at the water line. Sorry OP, I didn’t notice any cabana number locations and we didn’t rent.  

[TrustMeI'mANurse]

On 12/17/2019 at 8:27 PM, Hlitner said:

We were just on Ocean Cay (Yacht Club) this past Monday.  I took a long walk around the entire island just to check out the various facilities.  To be very blunt, we were completely underwhelmed by the cabanas.  Why?  The beach front cabanas are actually located behind the regular chairs/loungers.  So you are paying a lot of money to be further from the water.  There is not room in the cabana for a few loungers (they do have chairs) so when we did see some cabana users in loungers they had put them in front of their cabana.  I guess it was possible to rearrange furniture and cram a couple of loungers partially inside the cabana but we did not see this happen.   When I did my walk around a large majority of the cabanas were NOT rented and remained empty.  Personally, we were very happy to just grab a couple of nice loungers right on the water line (far in front of the nearest cabana) and use a beach umbrella (now free for those in the YC and only about $13 for others.

 

I also do not understand the term "locals."  What you might refer to as a local is simply a worker brought to the island by MSC to do various tasks (including construction).  Many of these folks are flown in from Freeport and work on the island for about 3 weeks before getting 1 week off at home.  We talked to several of these workers (who do provide support during cruise ship visits) and they were really nice folks grateful to get the jobs on Ocean Cay.  Quite a few were left unemployed after last Falls hurricane damage on their home island.

 

And by the way, the biggest issue we saw on the island was the lack of adequate rest room facilities.  This was particularly bad at the Yacht Club area where there was a single bathroom to serve everyone (male and female).  With about 150 YC folks sharing a single toilet the situation can get ….urgent.  Elsewhere on the island there are a few rest room buildings where we noticed relatively short lines.

 

One senior officer in the Hotel Department made it clear that Ocean Cay is a "work in progress" and noted that for anything this new there is a learning curve.  Personally we were impressed by what we saw and think the future potential is excellent.  I was happy to be among the first few groups to visit the island and look forward to seeing how the facility improves over time.  For us it was really a fun way to spend a nice day.

 

Hank

 

We had the same experience on day 2 of the OC opening. The bathroom is located in the YC restaurant and we were seated right in front of the (only) restroom to eat. I can't imagine what made anyone think that the YC area on OC would only require a single bathroom- even on day 1.

[Bossa Nova]

28 minutes ago, TrustMeI'mANurse said:

I can't imagine what made anyone think that the YC area on OC would only require a single bathroom- even on day 1.

I can!

1. The International Space Station, another spectacular destination where all of the elite passengers share a single toilet,
2. Belmond British Pullman rail service on the Orient-Express, where first class passengers recline and dine in gorgeous restored 1920s and 1930s coaches that hosted kings and queens, but share a single toilet per car,
3. The no-shame era of wearing Depend pads.

😂

[rikitikitavii]

53 minutes ago, TrustMeI'mANurse said:

 

We had the same experience on day 2 of the OC opening. The bathroom is located in the YC restaurant and we were seated right in front of the (only) restroom to eat. I can't imagine what made anyone think that the YC area on OC would only require a single bathroom- even on day 1.

We had YC  cabana  #5, beachfront. A lot of loungers between us and the water. Cabanas are ideal for max 4 people, 6 is a stretch.

There was a very big restroom about 5 minute walk from our cabana, in the non YC area.