A private bungalow rental in Princess Cays costs $299.99 for up to 4 people on a Carnival cruise or $229.95 on a Princess cruise. You can add up to 2 additional guests for $59.99 per person on Carnival or $25.95 on Princess making a 6 person rental $419.97 on Carnival and $281.85 on Princess.
To read about Princess Cays, please click here.
The bungalows are assigned on a first-come first-served basis so you'll want to head to the excursion desk after you board your ship to pick out your bungalow. They will show you a map of the location of each bungalow. Once you select which you'd like to rent, you'll indicate how many guests, shoe sizes for snorkel gear, and pick the sodas you want.
There are 18 bungalows and each has it's own name. There is not a single bungalow that has an unobstructed view of the water with direct water access. In fact, the beach where the bungalows are can only be accessed by going down a flight of stairs.
When you dock at Love Boat Marina, you will walk to the left towards the main part of the resort. From there, you'll go to the yellow building that has the First Aid station. This is where you'll find the shuttle that will take you right to your bungalow.
Bungalows 1 and 2 are slightly separated from the rest of the bungalows and are closest to the Grill Crazy BBQ Pavilion.
Between Bungalow 2 and 3 you'll find this hut for the crew. It's labeled as Davy Jones Locker on the map. As you can see, there's quite a bit of sand between the bungalows and the water.
Bungalows 3 through 12 all have many blue lounge chairs in the sand closest to the water with the sidewalk separating the public area from the private bungalow area.
The bathrooms are located between and behind Bungalows 12 and 13. If you want to be close to the bathrooms, this would be an ideal location. If you prefer more privacy, I would avoid this location as there's quite a bit of foot traffic here.
The bungalow beach does not have the typical beach entry into the water. Instead the area is raised with a safety fence preventing you from falling. The water access is down a staircase across from Bungalows 8 and 9. If you want to be in a bungalow with the closest beach (water) access, you'll want to pick this area.
Some of the bungalows have a water view both in front and behind them such as Bungalow 10.
There is a sidewalk that runs the entire length of the resort and passes by the front of each Bungalow.
If you want sand, lounge chairs and a water view from your Bungalow, you'll want to pick any bungalow between 1 through 12.
The Bungalow Bar is located across from Bungalow 13. This does cause a slightly obstructed view of the water.
Bungalows 13 through 18 do not have any lounge chairs in the sand in front of them past the sidewalk. Instead there's a smaller section of sand and then plants that are 3+ feet high.
Just past Bungalow 18, you'll find the entrance to the Sanctuary Bungalows. This is the adult only section.
We stayed in Bungalow 18 which is named Passion Fruit.
There is a small ~2" step to enter the patio area that features two lounge chairs.
The view from the patio and inside of the bungalow is of two lounge chairs under a clamshell, sand, plants and then the cruise ship in the water beyond that. It's a very peaceful and relaxing view.
The Bungalow comes with 2 floating beach mats which are hanging on the left exterior wall (if looking at the bungalow). The outdoor shower in on the right side of the bungalow.
Inside you'll find a table with 4 chairs.
Snacks are already placed inside your bungalow when you arrive which include:
Chips with salsa, sour cream and guacamole
Apples
Pears
Oranges
Watermelon, Pineapple, Honeydew and Cantaloupe slices
Carrots, Celery, Radishes, and Black Olives with Ranch sauce
Ice bucket full of ice
Cups, plates, napkins and silverware
There's a mini fridge inside the bungalow however our selected drinks were in the large black bucket placed on top of the fridge filled with ice. We never put our drinks in the fridge as the ice was sufficient to keeping everything cold.
The air conditioning wall unit is controlled via a remote that's on the wall. It's rather sufficient and definitely feels great to walk inside the cooled bungalow after spending time in the Bahamian heat.
You'll find your snorkeling gear inside the bungalow. There's also an outlet inside the bungalow which is great if you want to bring your phone charger or have any other need for electricity.
I absolutely loved the location of Bungalow 18! The only people who walked by were those staying in the Sanctuary Bungalows and due to the lack of lounge chairs in front of the sidewalk, there was nobody else near us.
The only downside to the location is that you're the furthest away from the Grill Crazy BBQ Pavilion. I didn't realize how stroller friendly the resort would be with the sidewalk going the entire length so I left the stroller onboard. Having to walk with two toddlers all the way to the BBQ pavilion and back felt like an eternity! 🤣
If you have kids, I'd recommend bringing some sand toys if they're into playing in the sand. You do have a decent amount of sand in front of your bungalow where little ones can play. There's even shade provided by the clam shell!
As previously mentioned, water access is across from Bungalows 8 and 9 however there is a path next to this palm tree in front of the Sanctuary Bungalows.
If you walk over to this palm tree and follow the path between the plants, you'll find some sand and then lots of large rocks.
You technically could access the water here, though you'd have to walk across many rocks both in and out of the water.
The Sanctuary Bungalows have the same water access with needing to go through lots of rocks to get to the water. Water shoes absolutely are a must in Princess Cays!
Despite not having easy water access, the views from this area are breathtaking!
If you don't want to venture through the rocks to access the water (like us), the Bungalow Beach/water access is about a 3 minute walk headed back towards bungalow 8.
Once there, you'll have the option of two staircases that you can go down. One is steep with 5 or 6 steps with a straight path to the water.
The other staircase is only 3 steps and much wider. It's off on the side so you'll walk slightly longer to get to the water. Neither staircase is better than the other, it's simply a preference and location thing depending on which direction you're coming from when trying to access the water. We went down the steeper staircase.
Unlike typical beaches where you have a seemingly endless beach entry into the water, you'll enter the water within a lagoon (an opening between the many rocks that line the shore).
It gives for such a unique experience compared to typical beaches in the Bahamas, with an exotic feel.
Some of the rocks are quite large, especially to your left!
If you look close enough, you may even be able to spot crabs. The flatter rocks in the water to the right have many rock mussels (or clams/oysters - I'm not 100% sure which species they were) on them. Please do not pick them off as they are alive! I saw a couple people picking them off then asked if they were alive.... When I said yes they felt awful and stopped.
The water is relatively calm and clear. There are many different types of fish so the snorkeling gear in your bungalow will come in handy! We even saw a school of squid swim past us! There are large rocks scattered in the water so you do want to be mindful of those and not trip or injure yourself on them. My 2 year old daughter had a lot of full swimming over to one of them and then jumping off back into the water.
This was our first visit to Princess Cays and we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Having the bungalow truly was a blessing as we had a dedicated place to leave our belongings, and a private area to dine and relax. My 1 year old daughter fell asleep in the morning and I placed one of the floating mats on the floor inside the bungalow using it as a bed for her. She was able to stay out of the sun while she napped. I'll surely be booking another bungalow the next time we visit Princess Cays!