Can I come and go. . . .

from Half Moon Cay to the ship whenever I want. :rolleyes: Will I be trapped, If I go back aboard am I stuck there until we depart? We haven't scheduled an excursion or anything. Just want to find a beach to sit on until we decide we don't want to sit anymore. Is there any shade?

Tender operations will be offered as a continuous shuttle service for your entire day at Half Moon Cay.

Sure can but I never wanted to leave!

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Half Moon Cay is my favorite place there is plenty of shade and lounge chairs. And yes you can go back and forth from the ship. Cabanas are awesome too

If you want shade, get there early and purchase a clam shell (shaded area with two chairs) for I think $15. They go fast though. So, get on one of the first tenders.

You can come/go as you please, however it is a tender boat ride and not as easy as say Grand Turk to go on and off.

Last year, we took the first tender at 8am, got a clam shell and stayed for about 3.5 hours. Then we gave our clam shell to some very lucky guests who couldn't even find a spot on the beach!

Next week, we will be going there again and hope to do a similar thing except we get in at 9am instead of 7:30am this year. We are hoping to explore the island a bit more this year as well as last year it was water for 15 minutes, sand/clam shell shade for 15, repeat. Plus a trip to the play ground ships.

You will have a great time!!! Love HMC!

Kim

If you don't want to rent a clam shell, there are plenty of chairs in the shade...just plan on being one of the first off the ship to find them. On our last trip to HMC, we set up camp under a few palm trees. Absolute heaven.:)

We got the cabana and it rocked!

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It was pretty hot in the clamshell, the breeze was blocked by the clamshells in front. A small battery powered fan would be nice to have.

Sure can but I never wanted to leave!

 

 

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Agreed our favorite port.

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While you can come and go as you please, remember, it takes around 30 minutes from the time you decide to leave the ship or the island to get to the destination. The more trips you take the more time you burn.

We got the cabana and it rocked!

 

 

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Did you have a sign that said "If the cabana's rockin', don't come knockin' "?:o:D

Did you have a sign that said "If the cabana's rockin', don't come knockin' "?:o:D

If their cabana was rocking, I hope they sold tickets, otherwise everyone had a free show (no front to the cabanas). :eek: :D

In the shade at Half Moon Cay, you may not want to leave... ;)

Once there, you wont want to leave, is so true. You can move the beach chairs too, we got some in the shade by walking further down the beach, got a shell (way too hot for me) , the food on the island was good, it's really the only place you will get an actual grilled by fire burger. Burgers grilled on the ship are grilled by steam.If you love beach and clear beautiful water you will love this island.

Once there, you wont want to leave, is so true. You can move the beach chairs too, we got some in the shade by walking further down the beach, got a shell (way too hot for me) , the food on the island was good, it's really the only place you will get an actual grilled by fire burger. Burgers grilled on the ship are grilled by steam.If you love beach and clear beautiful water you will love this island.

"Grilled by steam!" That's so funny! Sad, but I guess true...(I don't eat hamburgers on cruises...)

"Grilled by steam!" That's so funny! Sad, but I guess true...(I don't eat hamburgers on cruises...)

It sure does not conjure up a yummy burger. That being said a very famous burger joint is Ted's which does steamed burgers. There is no open flame cooking on a Carnival cruise ships.

If you decide to rent a clamshell, prop the back up with a couple sticks and the air will circulate and you won't get hot.

I agree, you will not want to leave...you can find chairs or a hammock away from everyone if that's what you want, and they bring lunch over, so there's really no need to leave and come back. It's a beautiful place and plenty of shade.

The tender will wait until it has enough passengers to make the trip back to the ship.

The tender will wait until it has enough passengers to make the trip back to the ship.

Any idea what constitutes "enough?"

Any idea what constitutes "enough?"

When the lines are long, it usually constitutes pretty full.

I keep seeing this topic and still keep thinking, I wanna go back so bad!!!!

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Any idea what constitutes "enough?"

Not necessarily very many. We took the tender back last year at about 1 in the afternoon (4 hours in the sun is enough for me) and there were 7 people on the tender heading back.