I'm so over Half Moon Cay!

[sail7seas]

Lizzie68, can I ask how you found out that two ships were going to be at HMC on the same day? I would love to check is any other ships will be there the day we are docked.

You porr won't 'be docked. HMC is a tender

[summersigh]

Our favorite cruise "island" is RCCL's Labadee. There seemed to be alot more to do even if you weren't a beach/swimmer type person. :)

Edited January 1, 2017 by summersigh

[jabcruiser]

Well I am a "beach" person and I love HMC. Beautiful water and beach. Never seems crowded, unless two ships happen to be there. Swam there comfortably last month. We are not go, go have to do some activity all the time people though. Just like to lounge on the beach, have a few drinks, swim, maybe snorkel a bit. Isn't that what Caribbean islands are for? Do not like the BBQ though so we usually are on first tender to island, then back to ship around noon for lunch on board. Each to there own.

[mek]

Our favorite cruise "island" is RCCL's Labadee. There seemed to be a lot more to do even if you weren't a beach/swimmer type person. :)

 

I agree. After 4 attempts, we finally made it to HMC a few weeks ago. The beaches are lovely, but DH uses a transport chair and there didn't appear to be easy access to the beach for us. We enjoy sitting by the water and relaxing, but couldn't do that there, so we had lunch at the BBQ and then went back to the ship.

 

I also like Princess Cay - the beach itself may not be as nice, but there are plenty of lounge chairs in shady areas along the walkways with nice beach views.

[81Zoomie]

HMC is one of the best beaches in the Caribbean! It's much better than Princess Cay which is rocky. Great for a quiet walk on the beach and a swim. No shop keepers to hustle you. No hot streets and tiny shops. No need for a taxi. Just lots of fine white sand and beautiful blue water with FREE chairs and hammocks. Don't want to relax on the beach, book an excursion or stay on the ship. It's one of my favorite stops. I only wish there was a pier to eliminate the tendering.

[summersigh]

HMC is one of the best beaches in the Caribbean! It's much better than Princess Cay which is rocky. Great for a quiet walk on the beach and a swim. No shop keepers to hustle you. No hot streets and tiny shops. No need for a taxi. Just lots of fine white sand and beautiful blue water with FREE chairs and hammocks. Don't want to relax on the beach, book an excursion or stay on the ship. It's one of my favorite stops. I only wish there was a pier to eliminate the tendering.

I think (and should have mentioned) that having a pier IS one of the reasons we prefer Labadee. This doesn't mean we dislike HMC - just that Labadee has some different draws that appeal to us including the pier and free trolley that visits all of the various shopping, beach (sunny and shady) and food spots in the port area.

Edited January 1, 2017 by summersigh

[tuolumne couple]

We have been to Half Moon Cay eight times, and feel lucky to say that. We have never missed a tender, and are always the first ones off the ship and the last ones tendering back. We were there this past November 2016 and it was warm, wonderfully sunny ,despite two HAL ships being at the Island. It was not crowded at all, thanks to those who stayed on board, so I am actually thankful that those who are 'over it' stay on board, because i assure you, we are not and also find this stop to be one of our favorites. It is white powder sand and easy Island living with no one but other HAL passengers and island crew around you. You can trust everything you leave to be in place all day. The island BBQ was greatly improved to include more salad options such as a great spinach salad ,which was welcome. The crew from the Zuiderdam were wading in the water with drinks on trays which was absolutely hilarious to see, and meet those passengers (we were on the Veendam). We met some friends on the tender over and ended up switching tables to eat with them at dinner as we all got along so well. Finding those of like mind is important and we sure like to laugh and have fun. We end up swimming and snorkeling and walk the full length of the beach several times. We are birders, so we always see Bananaquits and other island birds. We dont always do the same thing, but mix it up. The experience is different for everyone and becomes what you make it. May your next cruise be a lovely one and any day on board or on an island is better than work. Happy 2017 everyone. Wishing you all many more cruising adventures with HAL.

[POA1]

About those crowds - Here are 3 photos, taken from the most crowded part of the beach when the Eurodam called on Half Moon Cay on 12/23/2016. I waited until after 11 am to make sure most people who were going ashore were off the ship.

 

 

 

 

We happen to live on the beach and we still always get off on Half Moon Cay. It's a really nice beach. It's a little more crowded than the southernmost part of Fort Lauderdale Beach where we live, but the only time I've seen it remotely crowded was when two Vista Class ships were there at the same time. Then, you had to walk up about as far as the pirate ship to find a reasonably open expanse of beach.

[Dogstar]

Here are 3 photos, taken from the most crowded part of the beach when the Eurodam called on Half Moon Cay on 12/23/2016 ... we still always get off on Half Moon Cay. It's a really nice beach.

 

 

Agreed! Here's a few "hammock view" snaps of our crowded beach when the Nieuw Amsterdam called on HMC on 2016-12-09 ... tough, I know, but we endured it nonetheless. [emoji6]

 

 

 

[tuolumne couple]

[Tampa Girl]

Oh hun! I was there three times before all this too. I suppose #Carnival needs to capitalize on this, but obviously our HA #CEO doesn't understand his market. Pirate Ships and 2-level "beach condos". If this continues, I'm, going elsewhere. Too bad. HA used to have great service.

 

So you don't like it, and neither do I. But so what? Many passengers do enjoy it. There are plenty of other places that we do enjoy, and a day on the ship when most passengers are off on HMC is great. I really don't understand your complaint.

[DaveOKC]

So you don't like it, and neither do I. But so what? Many passengers do enjoy it. There are plenty of other places that we do enjoy, and a day on the ship when most passengers are off on HMC is great. I really don't understand your complaint.

 

IMO it is a very nice place, but the tenders are a bit of a hassle (I know, I am spoiled) plus the BBQ lunch is just "OK". Since we have been on the island several times, we now either skip it and enjoy the ship or go early, spend a couple of hours on the beach and head back to the ship for lunch.

[mamaofami]

I used to love going to HMC, but now that it’s hard for me to walk , I stay on board and love the quiet. I’ve never gone hungry since Lido was always open.

 

I do agree the sand and water are wonderful,

[Sage]

When I have friends that are on board with me, I generally treat everyone to the Villa on HMC. I too have difficulty walking, but they now offer transportation to your Villa, and that makes it so much easier for me. The Villas have their own 10 person jacuzzi, a bathroom complete with shower, and then the beautiful views from the downstair and upstair verandas. With the Butler and lunch served at the Villa, it makes for a wonderful day. I was last there in March, and I not only enjoyed the island, but the laughter and delightful time my guests had.

[donaldsc]

The first couple of times it was fun. Great beach. Service good. Water cold (in winter months). New island-based tenders helped.

 

I don't even go onshore now. Just stay on board and read my kindle on the balcony.

 

You?

 

Obviously attitudes toward the private islands vary but I have been on several of them and I find them a totally boring waste of time and my money. I don't cruise to go to beaches. I am not a beach person. I get bored w a beach after about maybe 10 minutes. Then after the 10 minutes, what do I do for the rest of the day. I dislike sea days and I regard private islands as just another sea day.

 

DON

Edited December 12, 2017 by donaldsc

[esimon]

grumble grumble grumble -- people must like the Cay cause they keep stopping there - Im glad of the nice trip to the beach, then back to the quiet ship. everyone has their own opinion and even the grumbly ones get expressed LOL

[colonialinnkeeper]

Obviously attitudes toward the private islands vary but I have been on several of them and I find them a totally boring waste of time and my money. I don't cruise to go to beaches. I am not a beach person. I get bored w a beach after about maybe 10 minutes. Then after the 10 minutes, what do I do for the rest of the day. I dislike sea days and I regard private islands as just another sea day.

 

DON

Carefully choosing your itineraries can give you ports you are interested in and help you avoid those beach and sea days that you seem to dislike.

[Halfmoonfan]

We rarely go ashore at HMC anymore. Seems like we are always there when there are 2 ships and it is just way too crowded.

 

We liked HMC before they started all those cabanas, Pirate ship, and now the double decker cabanas.

 

So we basically stay on the ship.

 

 

 

We love HMC. It is a beautiful, unspoiled beach in the Bahamas. There are no aggressive vendors to bother us, unlike some beaches in other islands in the Bahamas. I do not understand the math when people here state that it is too crowded on HMC when there are two ships in port. Add up all the deck space and pool space on two Hal ships, then compare and contrast the beach and ocean space on HMC? It seems to me that the space per guest is 100X on HMC compared to the ship.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

It's great for a moderately-long walk and a dip or a swim. Unfortunately, on windy days when waves breaking on the beach might add to the atmosphere, you probably won't be able to go ashore.

[haladdict]

We have been to Half Moon Quay, so many times and sometimes, only one day between visits. We are usually on the first tender and we love it. That lovely soft sand between my toes and the colour of that water.

Sandra

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

Under normal circumstances, DH and I get off, go for a bit of a walk, enjoy HMC and then go back on the ship for lunch. We prefer it on the ship to the bbq, but that's just us

 

I am in total sync with you Kazu.....that is exactly what we do also. It is a beautiful beach for sure, but we are not ones to lay in a beach chair all day, just a walk on the beach will do for us. BBQ I am very fussy on, as DH makes the best BBQ ever IMO, so would rather eat something else onboard.

[Aquahound]

I happen to love HMC. White sandy beach and that crystal clear calm water....like the sign says, I could stay there forever.

 

Last month, DW and I took our snorkel gear. It's a bit of a hike, but if you walk all the way to the end of the beach, there's some pretty good snorkeling once you get out around the first set of rocks. There's a couple pristine beaches out there where we rested before snorkeling back. We loved every second of it.

 

With the exception of NCL's new island in Belize, I have been to every cruise line's private island(s). HMC is my favorite.

[navybankerteacher]

On the right kind of day it's an easy way to have beach time-- the BBQ is not worth the calories, and it's a shame they tarted the place up with pirate ship and cabanas - but it is a fine beach, and the easiest way to have a beach swim on a typical itinerary (water a bit cool January to March). Not worth a full day, because the less crowded ship is good in itself.

 

Bottom line: enjoy a visit or experience it as a less-crowded sea day. Either way it's OK.

[CherryG]

We've been to HMC 4 times, the last being a month ago. We've never been there when there's been more than one ship, and therefore never found it crowded. This last time, there was to be another ship with us that day, and we saw it stop, but we wondered what happened, as it left before anyone came on to the island. If anyone knows, I'd be interested in hearing. I forget which HA ship it was, but my understanding is it had just come across from Europe somewhere. We've always found the BBQ to be adequate, but this time, we found it to be quite good and enjoyed it. For us it's a lovely beach day and I look forward to visiting it again.

[kazu]

We've been to HMC 4 times, the last being a month ago. We've never been there when there's been more than one ship, and therefore never found it crowded. This last time, there was to be another ship with us that day, and we saw it stop, but we wondered what happened, as it left before anyone came on to the island. If anyone knows, I'd be interested in hearing. I forget which HA ship it was, but my understanding is it had just come across from Europe somewhere. We've always found the BBQ to be adequate, but this time, we found it to be quite good and enjoyed it. For us it's a lovely beach day and I look forward to visiting it again.

 

When was this?

 

It might be their timing was bad - either arriving too late or that tendering wasn't possible. they maybe couldn't anchor?

 

It's happened to us returning before. Other ship there but couldn't get the anchor to hold because of the timing.