Labadee Beach Bungalow

[canada55]

Hi, we are a family of 9 people (5 adults, 4 kids aged 4-13), and will be on Harmony of the Seas in Dec 2018. I am thinking of renting a beach bungalow so that we will have a comfortable and shaded spot to rest especially for my 80 year old dad. From the RC website, it says maximum of 8 people. Do you think it will be a problem to have 9 people there, we likely won't all be sitting in the bungalow at the same, the kids will probably be in the water the whole time. I just don't want to order the beach bungalow and then find out we can't all use it. Thank you.

 

[Matt]

23 minutes ago, canada55 said:

From the RC website, it says maximum of 8 people. Do you think it will be a problem to have 9 people there

You won't have any problem.  

[canada55]

thanks !

[canada55]

just to post an update. I did book the beach bungalow with the cruise planner sale for this weekend. I think it was a good price as it came down to $210 USD.

 

[JLMoran]

2 minutes ago, canada55 said:

just to post an update. I did book the beach bungalow with the cruise planner sale for this weekend. I think it was a good price as it came down to $210 USD.

Out of curiosity, was was the going price before the current sale? Most recent article about the bungalows that Matt posted was from August 2016, and it was $250 at that time.

Given how much the price of cabanas has shot up over the last year, wouldn't surprise me to hear the bungalows are going for $300+ without a sale.

[canada55]

It was 263 USD when I looked at it 2 days ago. 

 

[JLMoran]

30 minutes ago, canada55 said:

It was 263 USD when I looked at it 2 days ago. 

 

20% discount is definitely a good deal!

Of course, Royal will say it's more than that because they calculate off of on-board prices (whatever number that might be on a random Friday). 

[melski94]

On 5/25/2018 at 2:09 PM, JLMoran said:

Out of curiosity, was was the going price before the current sale? Most recent article about the bungalows that Matt posted was from August 2016, and it was $250 at that time.

Given how much the price of cabanas has shot up over the last year, wouldn't surprise me to hear the bungalows are going for $300+ without a sale.

All depends on cruise. Here are the prices of my 3 purchases for the bungalows: 

On Harmony spring break 2018, I paid $250.  Never saw it cheaper and I don't remember if it went up.

My Independence Nov 2018 cruise, I purchased it for $236 but it came down to $197 so cancelled and rebooked it.  Haven't seen it that cheap again and the current sale has it at $210.  

My Adventure March 2019 cruise, I purchased it for $263 and the current sale still has it listed at $263. I keep checking it with every sale and can hopefully cancel and rebook. I wanted to snag one as we really like these bungalows and I'll just keep checking for better prices but I'm ok if the price doesn't come down.

[canada55]

Is there one attendant for all the bungalows or several attendants? Just wondering in terms of a tip, should I be tipping after each drink/item the attendant helps with or is a tip at the end good? Thanks

 

[melski94]

40 minutes ago, canada55 said:

Is there one attendant for all the bungalows or several attendants? Just wondering in terms of a tip, should I be tipping after each drink/item the attendant helps with or is a tip at the end good? Thanks

 

We tipped at the end.  

[Matt]

59 minutes ago, canada55 said:

Is there one attendant for all the bungalows or several attendants? Just wondering in terms of a tip, should I be tipping after each drink/item the attendant helps with or is a tip at the end good? Thanks

 

I always tip at the end

[Lovetocruise2002]

On 5/25/2018 at 3:09 PM, JLMoran said:

Given how much the price of cabanas has shot up over the last year, wouldn't surprise me to hear the bungalows are going for $300+ without a sale.

The ones over at Barefoot Beach have skyrocketed this year.  The going price for a cabana over there is now $350 (Standard), $495 (Beach front), and $595 (OTW).  Crazy!  So yes,  $263 seems like a great deal, even though it's bungalow and not cabana.  To me they are all pretty similar.

[JLMoran]

1 hour ago, canada55 said:

Is there one attendant for all the bungalows or several attendants? Just wondering in terms of a tip, should I be tipping after each drink/item the attendant helps with or is a tip at the end good? Thanks

You'll have one specific attendant assigned to your bungalow, assuming it operates the same as the cabanas. As with @Matt and @melski94, I tipped at the end.

[canada55]

thank you, this is all very helpful!

[Lovetocruise2002]

As a follow up to this question, I was wondering for those of you who have rented a cabana/bungalow in Labadee....how attentive were the attendants??  The reason why I am asking is because I know that one attendant is assigned to multiple cabanas/bungalows and I have read a few things recently where they were no where to be seen (until the end).  Just wondering if that was the trend these days or if the reviews I read recently just had back luck.  I have never rented one of these but I am going to next trip to Labadee since I'll have my kids with me.

[Matt]

5 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I was wondering for those of you who have rented a cabana/bungalow in Labadee....how attentive were the attendants??

I've only ever done the cabana at Labadee and they are very attentive.  They literally stand outside the cabanas and wait to be summoned.  Obviously if someone else makes a request, they will be busy taking care of that, but in general, it is very simple to get their attention and order something. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

As a follow up to this question, I was wondering for those of you who have rented a cabana/bungalow in Labadee....how attentive were the attendants??  The reason why I am asking is because I know that one attendant is assigned to multiple cabanas/bungalows and I have read a few things recently where they were no where to be seen (until the end).  Just wondering if that was the trend these days or if the reviews I read recently just had back luck.  I have never rented one of these but I am going to next trip to Labadee since I'll have my kids with me.

I've had mixed results re: Labadee cabana attendants.  Once we made the fatal mistake of tipping up front.  Off he went and never came back.  Not once.  All of the other times, however, we have usually had good service.  I've never had Matt's experience of them hanging around outside the hut but they usually come back a few times throughout the afternoon.

[melski94]

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

As a follow up to this question, I was wondering for those of you who have rented a cabana/bungalow in Labadee....how attentive were the attendants??  

My experience with the bungalows was that attendants do have several bungalows to attend to but that never stopped good service.  In the morning, they give you bracelets and they spend time shooing away the non-bungalow crowd off the beach.  That was a very thankless job.  When brought our lunch back to our bungalow, our attendant was right there taking drink orders and brought them very quickly. He came around several times that afternoon and cleared plates, etc. We aren't heavy daytime drinkers especially with kids but had no problem getting drinks in the afternoon.   

[JLMoran]

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I was wondering for those of you who have rented a cabana/bungalow in Labadee....how attentive were the attendants??

As with @Matt and @melski94, our attendant was very attentive and checked in on us regularly. When he wasn't checking on drink orders or clearing away the plates from our lunch, he would be found down at the far end of our row of cabanas (ours was second furthest out on the water, he would be back at the beach-side end of the row), keeping an eye on things and I assume making sure that non-cabana guests didn't wander into the area. The only time I actively had to go looking for him was early in the morning to get a golf cart called, and that only because I didn't realize he would be most of the way down at the end of the row.

If I had to guess, I'd say he checked in on us about every half hour, 45 minutes tops during the time I was there for a good long stretch. And whenever we requested something, he got it lickety split. Probably helped with the drink orders that the cabanas on Nellie's Beach are maybe 20 feet away from the bar for that area.

Honestly, I waited longer for golf carts to show up than for our attendant to get anything done. Our attendant actually got kind of PO'd the first time I requested a cart and made a second call, and even though my French is pretty bad I could still get the gist that he was telling the driver he had a cabana guest who'd been waiting over 15 minutes for the guy to show up and to get there pronto.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Thanks all!  That is encouraging to hear that most of you have had good experiences.  Honestly, thank goodness I have OBC because if not, no way hubby would agree to a cabana.

[KathyC]

I know this thread is about Labadee, but after having a bungalow on CocoCay, I was curious as to the differences between the two private destinations.

For our bungalow on CocoCay last week, we were given six bracelets and that's it.  If we tried to bring another person over I don't know that they would be allowed in the area?  Our wrists were looked at each time we got on the transportation and passed the concierge stand, but I don't recall seeing anyone policing the beach. But, it is pretty far down and away from the main area, so you'd have to take the long walk over to get there.

Our attendant didn't really visit us at all, so I don't know that we had one?  One person brought our food, but no one ever came back to clean up the plastic containers.  We threw them away ourselves, stuffing them in an already overflowing garbage can.  No one ever came to offer us drinks from the bar.  I can't honestly say we had an attendant, so no one got tipped at the end. There was no one to tip, LOL.  We only got drinks at the floating bar, so I can't say anything about the bungalow bar itself.

We got ours on sale for $209, someone on my sailing got it as low as $195 but I never saw it get close to $209 after I purchased it.  We're definitely considering another one on the Anthem group cruise when we visit Labadee next year. 

[J. Woody]

I booked cabana at Nellies Beach.  Over the water ones are sold out.  I heard cabana served “first come bases...."

Which one or # you would recommend?  Any suggestions I’ll take!  Thank you

[JLMoran]

4 hours ago, J. Woody said:

I heard cabana served “first come bases...."

This was my experience with our over-the-water cabana. We left the ship about 10:00 AM and got the unit second-furthest out from the beach. I spoke with the family in that furthest-out unit, and they said they didn’t ask for or reserve that one, they just got there maybe 15 minutes earlier than me so that’s the unit they got.