Any HAL Ships Missing Half Moon Cay?

[tomcatguy74]

Hello

Since Half Moon Cay is mostly owned by Holland America CL I was wondering if anyone was scheduled to go there and missed it due to some strange condition.
I am heading out on the Carnival Fascination in 29 days and have been reading reviews that say my ship has missed HMC at least three times in a row due to weather, propulsion, or other condition.
I just want to know if it is everyone who is experiencing this problem or just my ship.
I am pretty much locked into my cruise now so I cannot change but i would like to have some sort of heads up and be able to make adjustments to my plans in case it happens.

Thanks

Robert

[Mary Ellen]

Actually HMC is owned/leased by HAL, not 'mostly'. CCL is the parent company of HAL and other lines under the CCL 'family' (who don't have private islands of their own) use HMC when a HAL ship isn't. I've only heard of Carnival using HMC, mainly in the summer when HAL ships are in Alaska or Europe. For fear of stating the obvious, propulsion problems would be ship specific and not affect other ships ability to stop at HMC. But yes, weather does cause HAL ships to skip HMC on occasion.

Good luck.

[CtheW0rld]

i've been there twice. there is no dock (or least least there wasn't last time i was there). once we had to skip it because of rough seas, once we made it.

[cruisun]

in march out of three planned stops at hmc, two were cancelled. it seemed to me that the day we did stop was rougher than the two days that had been cancelled. the captain was not able to anchor and used the thrusters etc to keep the ship in place. tender rides were VERY rough but fun. i was happy to not have missed all three!!

[sail7seas]

Carnival Corporation owns HAL, not Carnival Cruise Line.
Carnival Corp. also owns Cunard, Costa, Princess, Carnival and Seabourn among others.

About 20-25% of the time, ships are not able to make the call at HMC due to weather conditions. We have been there on bright, sunny, gorgeous days and had to turn away because of rough seas. It was too dangerous to tender guests/crew ashore.

Every time HMC is listed in an itinerary, there is always an asterik which indicates the call will be made "conditions permitting".

Of the great many times we have been scheduled to go to HMC, I'd say it's about 1/4 of the time, it either was raining and miserable weather so no day at the beach or conditions did not permit tendering.

Hope you get to visit HMC as it is a slice of paradise and we love it there.

[IRL_Joanie]

On our B2B 7-21 February 2010 on Westerdam we were scheduled to do HMC twice. The first time the Captain attempted to tender, but the waves and winds were just to great so we headed off to Ft Lauderdale for our 2nd leg of the cruise. Three days later we had beautiful weather, winds and waves and made the Island.

It is hit or miss depending on the weather and waves. Mother Nature has a mind of her own and out ranks the ships and their passengers wishes:D.

Joanie

[ugagrad98322]

I am currently on the Westerdam...we missed our stop there on Monday due to high seas. The captain said he has missed HMC 3 times this season due to weather but in previous years he rarely missed. If conditions are not safe, they will not attempt to tender.

[Oceanwench]

Missed it but once in almost a dozen cruises.

[Essiesmom]

Have missed one of five times. EM

[Krazy Kruizers]

Quite a few ships have missed HMC over the last few months due to weather conditions.

When we first started to sail HAL we missed HMC quite a few times and wondered what the island really looked like.

[Cruisin Suzin]

:)I hope my cruise manages to see HMC...if not I will continue to cruise HAL until I see it..

[Himself]

I have been to HMC about eight times but have missed it twice because of dangerous seas.
The Captain would prefer to stop but if sea conditions are such that it would be dangerous for passengers to go over, he will put the well being and safety of passengers and crew FIRST. Better angry and dissapointed passengers than injured passengers.

[cheric]

HMC was our first stop on our Zuiderdam March Panama Canal cruise. The Captain tried for a few hours to anchor but the sea was so rough he finally gave up. not wanting to put us at risk. The Noordam was scheduled to be there that day too. They gave up the same time we did. It was for our own safety but disappointing, nonetheless. Having been there before I was really looking forward to that special beach day. They did give us free champagne for dinner and refunded our port charges. Maybe next time!

[jmps]

We had to miss HMC this week on the the Westerdam. High winds and coming rain canceled the stop. We ended up getting more time in Aruba so it was not all negative. I was looking forward to seeing it for the first time.

[Typhoon1]

20% of all cruises will miss the HMC stop due to tide/weather conditions.

[celyvabeach]

We must have been lucky.We were there Friday April 2nd on the Eurodam.Beautiful island. We had barbecue and my granddaughter did horseback riding.

[parrotfeathers]

There is horseback riding on HMC? I thought it was only on Grand Turk.

[RedmondCruiser]

Knock on wood -- but I think that we have been to HMC about ten times and we have never missed the stop. HMC is one of my favorite stops and would hate to miss it due to high seas.

[catl331]

There is horseback riding on HMC? I thought it was only on Grand Turk.

Horseback Riding by Land & Sea

Duration: Approximately 1¼ Hours (45 minutes of riding)

Price : $$

Saddle up for the experience of a lifetime! After a short tram ride to the corral you'll receive an orientation before setting out on a ride along winding trails up to the highest point on the island for a panoramic view of Half Moon Cay and the surrounding islands before you continue along the bay, back to the corral. Enjoy a refreshment as your horse is "dressed" for swimming in a special saddle pad and a rope halter (no saddle), then you'll venture into the ocean for the sensation of riding a horse while it's swimming! Ride the tram for the trip back to the Welcome Center.

Notes:
Wear your swimsuit under jeans or long pants. Bring tennis shoes, sunscreen, towel and camera. Sandals not permitted. Minimum age is 10 years. Maximum weight is 250 lbs.

[Y's Owl]

I have been scheduled twice on two different ships to be there and both times the wind and waves did us in. On my last cruise we were given a small credit for unpaid port taxes as a consolation. We instead had another wonderful sea day aboard our ships, which is an even better consolation prize.

[celyvabeach]

Horseback Riding by Land & Sea

Duration: Approximately 1¼ Hours (45 minutes of riding)

Price : $$

Saddle up for the experience of a lifetime! After a short tram ride to the corral you'll receive an orientation before setting out on a ride along winding trails up to the highest point on the island for a panoramic view of Half Moon Cay and the surrounding islands before you continue along the bay, back to the corral. Enjoy a refreshment as your horse is "dressed" for swimming in a special saddle pad and a rope halter (no saddle), then you'll venture into the ocean for the sensation of riding a horse while it's swimming! Ride the tram for the trip back to the Welcome Center.

Notes:
Wear your swimsuit under jeans or long pants. Bring tennis shoes, sunscreen, towel and camera. Sandals not permitted. Minimum age is 10 years. Maximum weight is 250 lbs.


I made my 17 y/o granddaughter wear her swimsuit under her jeans per the instructions which made her furious b/c nobody else was in jeans or long pants. Being a fashionista she felt out of place. But of course she had a short dress in her bag so she quickly changed. Now for the trip back,they were dropped off at the food pavilion (barbecue) instead of the welcome center where the grandparents were waiting. So she had to make that walk to come get us.
Just an FYI for anybody planning this excursion at HMC.