What's new at Half Moon Cay?

[MistyRo76]

We are cruising to the Bahamas this fall with a highly anticipated stop at HMC. It's been probably 6-8 years since we've cruised to HMC. So just wondering what has changed or been added to the port in those years. We will have our 9 year old daughter with us (and our friends will have their 12 year old daughter). Is there a water park/splash park/pool area for the kiddos to enjoy? Of course they will want to spend a lot of time on the beach, too. We have a cabana rented and are trying to figure out which one to choose. If we didn't have the kiddo, we would definitely go further down the beach where it's quieter. How long of a walk is it to the port area/kids play areas from say Cabana 9? 

 

Is lunch still served in the same lunch pavilion? Are there other food options available (food for purchase) outside of the snacks that come with our cabana? Can we get our cabana snacks and drinks replenished throughout the day? First time renting a cabana! 🙂 

 

Thanks! 

[jsglow]

My first visit there was in 2020, right before the shutdown.  Nothing has changed since then.  Here's an article that might answer some of your questions.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/21-things-half-moon-cay-carnivals-private-island/22968

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

27 minutes ago, MistyRo76 said:

We are cruising to the Bahamas this fall with a highly anticipated stop at HMC. It's been probably 6-8 years since we've cruised to HMC. So just wondering what has changed or been added to the port in those years. We will have our 9 year old daughter with us (and our friends will have their 12 year old daughter). Is there a water park/splash park/pool area for the kiddos to enjoy? Of course they will want to spend a lot of time on the beach, too. We have a cabana rented and are trying to figure out which one to choose. If we didn't have the kiddo, we would definitely go further down the beach where it's quieter. How long of a walk is it to the port area/kids play areas from say Cabana 9? 

 

Is lunch still served in the same lunch pavilion? Are there other food options available (food for purchase) outside of the snacks that come with our cabana? Can we get our cabana snacks and drinks replenished throughout the day? First time renting a cabana! 🙂 

 

Thanks! 

We were last there in 2018, when kids were 9 and 7, and they were already too big for the play area. It's more for younger kids, I think. It is a long walk from Cabana 9 (which is our favorite), but the ocean is much better than the play area at those ages!  I'd just skip the play area. Cabana comes with snorkel gear and mats, those will keep them busy the entire day!

 

Lunch is in the same place, a few minutes walk from cabana 9, but worth it for the quieter area. 

 

I don't think there is any food available for purchase, but you really don't need any.  I don't think they replenish the snacks that comes with the cabana, but we don't know for sure because our group of 5 couldn't come close to finishing them. Well, they did replace them, actually, because the snacks got attacked by a wild chicken while we were in the ocean.  We looked up and there it was, eating the fruit that we hadn't even opened yet!

[stingray310]

Just curious if anyone has seen or heard any progress on the expansion and improvements to Half Moon Cay. There was an announcement by Carnival last year about the addition of a dock, a lazy river, and a pool area, but I have not anything further on whether its been started or when it will be or the projected completion date.

 

Thanks,

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, stingray310 said:

Just curious if anyone has seen or heard any progress on the expansion and improvements to Half Moon Cay. There was an announcement by Carnival last year about the addition of a dock, a lazy river, and a pool area, but I have not anything further on whether its been started or when it will be or the projected completion date.

 

Thanks,

I was there a month ago.  Nothing.

[mz-s]

I've not noticed that anything has changed at HMC between my first visit in 2018 and my most recent visit in May 2022. Even the BBQ lunch menu was exactly the same as far as I recall.

[hard_eight]

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, hard_eight said:

Way outdated map. Doesn't show the Villas, Captain Morgan's Rock Bottom Bar (pirate ship), amongst other things. 😎

[hard_eight]

1 minute ago, Jamman54 said:

Way outdated map. Doesn't show the Villas, Captain Morgan's Rock Bottom Bar (pirate ship), amongst other things. 😎

Yeah I missed the Club HAL thing there in the middle 🙂 

[hard_eight]

Hard to find a good current one...This place has a small one.

 

Click here (Hiding the URL...)

Edited April 6, 2023 by hard_eight

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Found this more recent one.

 

halfmooncay_map.pdf (cruiseplanet.co.jp)

[stingray310]

23 hours ago, stingray310 said:

Just curious if anyone has seen or heard any progress on the expansion and improvements to Half Moon Cay. There was an announcement by Carnival last year about the addition of a dock, a lazy river, and a pool area, but I have not anything further on whether its been started or when it will be or the projected completion date.

 

Thanks,

After looking into it further and according to the article below, it looks like the announcement was made in October of 2019, before Covid struck, so I'm assuming the project was either delayed indefinitely or put on hold due to financial issues with Carnival. So I don't expect to hear about it for a while, if at all.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4317/

[snowballs mom]

We were there three times in January (several short B2B cruises) and rented cabanas twice. We chose the farthest cabana in the hopes that it would be quieter. However, they have added quite a few clamshells and they are very close to all of the cabanas, so it feels much more crowded at the far end than it used to (our first visit was fifteen years ago). We walked to our cabana rather than take their transportation - it only took about ten or fifteen minutes and was a very pretty stroll. The beach was beautiful, and the kids were saw were happy to play in the water with the floaties provided. In addition, the horse corrals are a ten or fifteen minute walk from the last cabana, so the kids could go down and check it out.

[missholly24]

Overpriced Villas. 😂😂

[Thenagers]

We are renting a cabana this time and had a villa in 2018.  At the villa, the attendants were great about bringing us buckets of beer from the bars and such.  Do the cabanas get dedicated servers?  I would love a remote cabana but do not want to have to hoof it to the bars/bathrooms/food as much?

[MistyRo76]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:25 PM, snowballs mom said:

We were there three times in January (several short B2B cruises) and rented cabanas twice. We chose the farthest cabana in the hopes that it would be quieter. However, they have added quite a few clamshells and they are very close to all of the cabanas, so it feels much more crowded at the far end than it used to (our first visit was fifteen years ago). We walked to our cabana rather than take their transportation - it only took about ten or fifteen minutes and was a very pretty stroll. The beach was beautiful, and the kids were saw were happy to play in the water with the floaties provided. In addition, the horse corrals are a ten or fifteen minute walk from the last cabana, so the kids could go down and check it out.

Thanks for the info! We were thinking of snagging one in the middle (#9-11 hopefully). With those clamshells nearer to your cabana, did you have issues with people trying to use your cabana while you weren't in it. A friend of mine rented a cabana several years ago and said that every time they went in the water, they would come back and find people in their cabana - even eating their snacks or trying to use the water equipment that was provided. 

[snowballs mom]

1 minute ago, MistyRo76 said:

Thanks for the info! We were thinking of snagging one in the middle (#9-11 hopefully). With those clamshells nearer to your cabana, did you have issues with people trying to use your cabana while you weren't in it. A friend of mine rented a cabana several years ago and said that every time they went in the water, they would come back and find people in their cabana - even eating their snacks or trying to use the water equipment that was provided. 

Wow, that's pretty bold, considering they have signs right on them stating they are private rentals. We had no issues like that. However, one visit we were in the one right next to the farthest villa and the people that rented it thought everyone would enjoy the music they chose to blast. 

 

The biggest impact the large number of clamshells make is the amount of real estate they take up. In prior years if you chose the farthest end it was relatively uncrowded and the last couple of cabanas had a pretty empty beach in front of them. Now, a lot more people take the hike farther up the beach and it seems much more crowded and less peaceful. 

[hard_eight]

28 minutes ago, MistyRo76 said:

Thanks for the info! We were thinking of snagging one in the middle (#9-11 hopefully). With those clamshells nearer to your cabana, did you have issues with people trying to use your cabana while you weren't in it. A friend of mine rented a cabana several years ago and said that every time they went in the water, they would come back and find people in their cabana - even eating their snacks or trying to use the water equipment that was provided. 

Had this issue a few years back. Came back to a bunch of younger kids helping themselves to the shower and milling about. Shooed them off, Grandpa came up running his mouth that I had laid hands on his grand daughter or something...I was there with my 7 year old and wife.. He kept trying to make a deal of it, I threatened to call security and he left. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

While we were swimming we looked up and saw our snacks being eaten.

 

By a chicken.

 

We got revenge at the buffet lunch. 

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

While we were swimming we looked up and saw our snacks being eaten.

 

By a chicken.

 

We got revenge at the buffet lunch. 

 

lol I love the chickens on HMC

[MistyRo76]

14 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

While we were swimming we looked up and saw our snacks being eaten.

 

By a chicken.

 

We got revenge at the buffet lunch. 

yeah...chickens will eat anything! I have 5 of them, so I am well versed in that aspect! LOL

[MistyRo76]

16 hours ago, hard_eight said:

Had this issue a few years back. Came back to a bunch of younger kids helping themselves to the shower and milling about. Shooed them off, Grandpa came up running his mouth that I had laid hands on his grand daughter or something...I was there with my 7 year old and wife.. He kept trying to make a deal of it, I threatened to call security and he left. 

Yikes! That's crazy! 

[hard_eight]

37 minutes ago, MistyRo76 said:

Yikes! That's crazy! 

Closest to a fight I've been on a cruise! To avoid it in the future, we leave one of us to man it, while the other gets food or whatever...

 

Would hate to ruin a vacation over something so trivial

[skywalkr2]

I was there not long ago.  Seemed the same to me.  There was a rooster going around annoying people, though.