Royal Caribbean's (RCL) private island, CocoCay, offers a wonderful array of options at no added fee. You can visit multiple beaches, swim in the largest pool in the Caribbean, and eat barbecue, tacos, burgers, and sandwiches without spending a dime.
If you want an enhanced experience, however, you can opt for a number of them. People looking for a thrill can buy an admission to the island's water park while those seeking something more exclusive can pay for admission to the CocoCay Beach Club. Doing that gives you access to a private beach, an upscale lunch (featuring Bahamian lobster), and a more tranquil pool.
Inside the Beach Club, CocoCay visitors can opt for an even more exclusive experience. You can rent a variety of different cabanas, but the most-exclusive (and expensive ones) are the over-water cabanas.
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What's a CocoCay Over-Water Cabana Like?
Prices vary for the various types of cabanas, but the over-water ones are in limited supply. There are also cabanas on the beach at the Beach Club as well as cabanas around the free Oasis Pool and inside the water park (those come with admission to the extra-charge water park.)
In most cases, the Beach Club over-water cabanas cost between $2,500-$3,500 though they could come in lower than that as Royal Caribbean uses a demand-based system the company does not share any detail about. In my case, I was traveling with a friend, her boyfriend, and two couples that they know. (My friend paid for the cabana and I treated the group to dinner at Giovanni's on the ship as a thank you).
We got eight wristbands that allow access to the Beach Club (and our cabana) so you can come and go if you want to experience CocoCay (I never left, but a few members of our group paid the added fee to go to the water park). From the point of entrance, it was a high-end, VIP experience.
I walked up to the entry counter at the Beach Club and said what group I was with. Someone was immediately dispatched to walk me over. Once I arrived (around 10 a.m.) some of my group was already there, and our attendant for the day, Tiffany, (whose entire job was serving us and one other cabana) took my drink order (iced coffee) and showed me around the cabana, which had couches, chairs, a little closet with snorkeling gear, a sort of mesh platform where you could lay sort of in the water, and a small slide that leads right into the water.
The cabana, a floating platform, had a covered area, and one exposed to the sun. It also had a small fridge filled with water, beer, seltzers, and other similar drinks -- though our attendant was so, well, attentive, that there was literally no need to open it. (Drinks do cost extra, but onboard drink packages are accepted).
In addition to the slide, there was a ladder on the side of the cabana for those who wanted a less-adventurous way to get into the water. The water itself was clear, warm, and we saw everything from school of fish, to a baby shark, and a stingray.
What Was the CocoCay Beach Club Cabana Experience Like?
This truly felt like an exclusive experience. Tiffany took our lunch order -- from the menu at the Beach Club -- and readily brought us drinks. Having someone place a gin and tonic in front of you while you're in the ocean is a unique feeling and it was one repeated as often as I cared for it to be (water was often the beverage of choice).
In addition to having a Bahamian lobster for lunch, Tiffany brought over a selection of all the appetizers on the menu. Later, before taking our dessert order, she also brought over a number of funnel cakes from the Snack Shack (a sort of dessert appetizer). Our actual dessert included rum-soaked cake, a caramel-chocolate brownie, and some orange sherbet along with cookies, and a few other things.
Most of the day was spent lazily in the water although some of our group snorkeled and swam a bit. We were lucky that it never rained and the temperature was hot, but mid-80s, not higher.
Would I Buy A CocoCay Beach Club Cabana?
It's most certainly an indulgence. If you assume that you pay $3,000 for the rental and split it between eight people, that's $375 per person -- generally much less than you would pay for unlimited high-end dining on a seven night cruise. That being said, with the right people celebrating the right thing, I'd absolutely consider renting a CocoCay Beach Club Overwater cabana.
The cruise line truly makes cabana guests feel special. It was a magical day, partly because it's something I'm unlikely to do very often.
