BAREFOOT BEACH - OVER THE WATER CABANA REVIEW - Ty The Hunter

BAREFOOT BEACH - OVER THE WATER CABANA REVIEW

4/14/2020

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Last November we sailed, for the first time ever, on Explorer of the Seas. It was our first time on that particular class of ship, and our first time in a family suite that included bunk beds, a huge panoramic window, and no balcony. The suite perks were varied and many, and I've written a separate blog post about that, which you can read here, but one suite perk that begs a deeper look was our ability to book accommodations at Barefoot Beach, including a Barefoot Beach - over the water cabana. (read more)

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NELLIE'S BEACH OVER THE WATER CABANA
VIDEO WALK THROUGH

Anytime I can make a video for something, I do, so if you want to watch the walk through, you can do that here. I will talk more in the post about particulars, such as the Barefoot Beach cabana map, and the Barefoot Beach cabana prices, but if you want to see what the cabana looks like, how it's laid out, and where it is in relation to the rest of Barefoot Beach, this video will get you all of that information.

BAREFOOT BEACH CABANA PRICES

I'm going to start this section with a caveat: I booked a Barefoot Beach - over the water cabana back in 2019, prices may have changed since then. With the recent halt of all sailings due to Coronavirus, I would think the prices will go up, even if incrementally, so the cruise lines can start to slowly get their profit margins back up to speed.

When we booked in 2019, the cost of the cabana was $595.00. We had already booked an over the water cabana at Nellie's beach, not realizing we'd have the option to book at Barefoot (which is only open to suite guests, certain tier levels, and anyone who books a cabana). The concierge sent us an email two weeks before our sailing asking if we wanted to book any accommodation at Barefoot Beach. He also sent along a picture of each available reservation type along with pricing.

My assumption here is that suite guests will have first pick, and that if they do not book the cabanas, the email will then be sent to the general public. However, you cannot book Barefoot beach cabanas through Royal Caribbean online, it can only be done through your concierge, or possibly via email if they do indeed let the commoners book if the suite guests choose not to. :)

We were able to book the Barefoot Beach - over the water cabana, cancel our over the water cabana at Nellie's Beach, and ended up paying just about $100 more for the Barefoot Beach accommodations.

However, on our cruise planned in November of 2020 (which may or may not happen due to Coronavirus), we do not have a suite and were not able to book at Barefoot Beach. Instead we booked an over the water cabana at Nellie's Beach. That cabana cost us $579, so I can imagine the Barefoot Beach over the water cabana cost in 2020 will be somewhere around $100 more than that, just based on my past experience.

Here's what the cabana looks like. I took it from the email our concierge sent over to us before our sail date. The picture was taken at low tide. When we were there the waves were regularly washing up beneath the cabanas.

You can see the Barefoot Beach Hilltop Cabana in the background.

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BAREFOOT BEACH CABANA MAP

I have a Barefoot Beach cabana map that the concierge sent when we booked our cabana, but I do not believe the designations on the map are correct. I say this because the cabana we got was not marked the same way as the cabana on the map we were sent.

Here's the Barefoot Beach cabana map. As you can see, the designation on the map is W1, but the sign inside the cabana was W6. I'll screenshot that part of the video so you can see it.

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Here is the picture showing our cabana as W6. I did think that perhaps I had looked at the map wrong, but really there aren't that many cabanas, so there's no way to get it wrong.

If you watched the video you can see me walk to the cabana, passing three others on my left along the way. I also distinctly recall seeing the other cabanas to my left when we were in the water, facing away from our cabana. The ones on the far right of the map look amazing, and I'll definitely try to get those if we ever book another suite.

We do try to get a family panoramic suite each time we book this class, but so far, no love. It's a great suite!

Now that you know where the cabanas are, we'll talk about getting there and what else you can expect at Barefoot Beach.

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BAREFOOT BEACH - OVER THE WATER CABANA
GETTING THERE

Getting to the cabana is an easy walk from the pier. I had brought along our own full face snorkel masks, water shoes, sun shirts, etc. so I carried a rolling piece of luggage (carry on size) with me. It wasn't easy to roll, being that the pathways are mostly sand, so I ended up picking it up.

I will say that if you plan to bring luggage of this size off the ship, expect them to ask you to open it when you go through security. It did come in handy because we were able to stick all of our gear back in it at the end of the day, including wet sun shirts and a bucket and sand toys my mom purchased in the little shop you see right when you get off the ship.

If you don't want to walk to the cabana, you can get off the ship, walk a little ways, and then look to your right for your concierge. He/She will likely be holding a sign that says something like, "Suite guests, Diamond, Diamond Plus, Pinnacle", etc. Walk up to that person, give them your name/room number, and then enjoy the shade while they hail a Labadee Taxi. :)

It's an open air buggy that'll take you right to the entrance of Barefoot Beach. We didn't use the buggy on our way there, but we did hail it later on when we wanted to go ride the Dragon Coaster, which I highly recommend. I'll talk more about the hailing of the taxi in a bit.

Once you get to the entrance of Barefoot Beach you'll be greeted by another concierge, this one specific to Labadee (which means you likely won't see them on the ship). They'll take your name again and they'll give you a wrist band that you'll need to wear to gain access after you leave to do whatever (excursions, shopping, looking around).

That concierge will escort you to your cabana and point out all of the nifty things that come with it. I'll go into detail on that later on as well. He comes by once in awhile to check on you and see if you need anything; extra water, extra towels, etc.

When you leave Barefoot Beach for whatever reason, the concierge will also hail your taxi, if you don't feel like walking, or need special assistance. All you have to do is ask them to handle that for you, and they will. If you have some cash on hand, this would be a great time to tip.

Let's talk about what comes in the cabana, then we'll talk more about the other perks of Barefoot Beach.

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BAREFOOT BEACH - OVER THE WATER CABANA
AMENITIES

I feel like I should make this clear before I go further, just because I mentioned that the Labadee taxi is open to suite guests as well as guests of a certain tier.

Barefoot Beach is only for suite guests. It doesn't matter what tier you are (as far as I know), you cannot access the beach without a suite, or possibly without having booked a cabana if they are not all taken by suite guests. Also, this is for all suites, from Junior to Two Bedroom, it doesn't matter. If you have a suite, you can sit with them. :)

The cabana itself is very nice and spacious. You will share a walkway with the cabana next to you, and (if you or the next cabana) are particularly rambunctious, you will hear each other. Thankfully you can get some solitude inside of the cabana if you wish, or you can hang out on the deck in the provided loungers, complete with umbrella to keep you in the shade.

The interior has a long bench lined with plush cushions. There is a lot of room to sit or place your things. Space wasn't an issue for us, not even with all four of us in the party. If we weren't in the water, we were riding the Dragon's Tail Coaster or browsing the shops. The kids were either in the water with us or they were in sight on the shore building sand castles.

You can not access the water from your cabana directly. What you'll do instead is leave your cabana, follow the path a short way (maybe 15 feet) and enter the water via a set of stairs. If you're in the two cabanas closer to the Barefoot Beach entry path, you can access either from the stairs, or from the beach itself.

I believe the two cabanas located at the far right of the map do have direct access to the water from your cabana, but I can't confirm that. I'm just basing it on what I saw from the water.

In addition to the fabulous location, you also get two floating mats (I believe you can ask for more), a cooler full of ice, and of course the loungers with the umbrella. There's also a small table between the loungers.

This blurb from our concierge leads me to believe you can also request snorkel equipment: "The Barefoot Beach Club & Cabanas offers complimentary non-motorized water sports equipment (floating mats & snorkeling equipment) in addition to an upgraded lunch menu and service from Suite Beach Attendants."

Now let's talk about amenities that are not limited to cabana guests. (The Labadee Taxi would be one of them).

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BAREFOOT BEACH AMENITIES

I should state that I didn't visit the other beaches on Labadee, so I can't verify what I'm about to say about crowds, but I believe the draw of Barefoot Beach is that it is exclusive to suite guests and therefore should be less crowded.

The beach was never crowded during our day there, neither was the water. There was plenty of room to walk, and plenty of room to swim or float. Still, there were a lot of people once you got to the general communal area.

A perk of Barefoot Beach is that you get an upgraded lunch. I am not sure what the people ate who were not on Barefoot Beach, but I will say that lunch felt a bit lackluster. I believe we had options of hot dogs, hamburgers, and a few other "picnic" food items. There was a large area set out for desserts and fresh fruit, as well.

That said, the lines were long, we waited an easy ten minutes, which means the people not on Barefoot probably waited much longer. The tables did seem to be plentiful, so even though our concierge offered to reserve a table for us, we didn't need to take him up on it.

Sadly, the drinks aren't included unless you have a drink package. Mom and I aren't big drinkers, normally having no more than two per day (but more likely just one), so we sprang for a drink each, which set us back a cool $15 or so for a margarita. :)

Still, it was fun to drink that margarita and float around on our mats.

Also, the layout of the buffet was a bit odd. All of the condiments were at the front of the line, so if you got a hotdog and then wanted ketchup, you had to get back in line and wait all over again, or get the line to part so you could reach your goal. It would be nice if they would arrange the buffet differently, or designate the line standing area differently.

Of course, in addition to this, you get the taxi. :) I can't think of anything else you get.

Low crowds
Taxi
"Upgraded lunch"

I think that's it.

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THE END & FINAL THOUGHTS

I think the most important test of a place or excursion is whether or not I'd pay the money to do it again. In the case of Barefoot Beach, I would, for sure. I loved the cabana, the location was fantastic, and it was one of the best beach days I've ever done on any cruise.

I'll be happy to spend the day in our cabana at Nellie's Beach in November (finger's crossed that cruise still happens), but if they happen to send me an email telling me I can book at Barefoot, I will, no doubt.

Remember that you only pay for the cabana once, and it will accommodate up to eight people. When you get the email, only give them one name of your party. If you give them more than one, you might be booking more than one cabana.

If you have a large party, this makes things much more palatable, but even with our party of four, it came out to a price per person that I'd end up paying on any excursion.

If I do get to stay at Nellie's in November, I'll make another post and I'll try my best to remember to come back and link it.

Enjoy Barefoot!
Ty

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