What are the odds??

[chloes nana]

So what are the odds that you cannot tender to Half Moon Cay for reasons of rough seas, bad weather etc.?? I am eagerly awaiting my first chance to visit this wonderful place, so my question is: what is the percentage of times that the ships aren't able to tender and what do they do instead??

[kazu]

So what are the odds that you cannot tender to Half Moon Cay for reasons of rough seas, bad weather etc.?? I am eagerly awaiting my first chance to visit this wonderful place, so my question is: what is the percentage of times that the ships aren't able to tender and what do they do instead??

 

We have only been to HMC once in all of our cruises where it was a stop, but it may be the timing of our cruises as well. On the other hand, others have been there many times. No rhyme or reason, I don't think.

[chloes nana]

We have only been to HMC once in all of our cruises where it was a stop, but it may be the timing of our cruises as well. On the other hand, others have been there many times. No rhyme or reason, I don't think.

so what did they do when you had to bypass Half Moon Cay??

[CruiserBruce]

This has been debated many times. The answer seems to be 20-25% don't get there. Personally, knock on wood, we are 4 for 4 making it.

 

Possibly, the newer larger Vistas, and the newer larger island tenders may be making the arrival numbers a little better, as they are more stable for tendering.

[tcook052]

This has been debated many times. The answer seems to be 20-25% don't get there. Personally, knock on wood, we are 4 for 4 making it.

 

:eek: I sure hope my Eurodam itinerary stops here next week as I'd be bummed out to miss HMC.

[HAL4ME]

There's only two things you can be sure of in life...DEATH and TAXES!

I hope you will be able to make into HMC..:)

[peaches from georgia]

We are exactly 50-50.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we first started having cruises stop at HMC -- our percentage of getting there was BAD!! It has improved over the years.

 

Whenever we have missed HMC -- we just spent the time slowly making our way back to Ft Lauderdale -- it is just another Sea Day.

[chloes nana]

We are exactly 50-50.

so what happens on the 50% you don't make it???? is there an alternate port or what?

[HAL4ME]

so what happens on the 50% you don't make it???? is there an alternate port or what?

 

NOPE you are SOL because of it's promimity back to it's home port you just limp back much slower and crawl at a snarl pace of 10 knots if that to FLL and have longer at sea.:eek::eek::eek:

[shandryl]

On my last cruise We did not make it to Half Moon Cay on the first half due to waves/weather tenders not able to get there. The second half of the cruise the weather was perfect. :D

[chloes nana]

NOPE you are SOL because of it's promimity back to it's home port you just limp back much slower and crawl at a snarl pace of 10 knots if that to FLL and have longer at sea.:eek::eek::eek:

 

wow....:eek: that sounds like a ton of fun!

[Boytjie]

We are 3-0 at HMC the past three Februaries. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

so what happens on the 50% you don't make it???? is there an alternate port or what?

 

No alternate ports -- port stops can not be arranged on short notice due to security and proximity of ports.

As I said -- just another Sea Day.

[chloes nana]

We are 3-0 at HMC the past three Februaries. :)

oooooh!!! I like those odds!!! I shall keep my fingers crossed!!

[Randyk47]

We're four for four (one in February and three in March) and have never missed a stop. Once was a little rough and the captain delayed a bit as the winds were forecast to die down and they did so we were able to get on HMC about an hour later than scheduled. That was the coolest, in terms of temperure, but still very nice and sunny.

[Johanna7]

We have been there 6 times since 1998 and each time we have made it and enjoyed it.

[Koshlong]

Usually, missing Half Moon Cay is weather-related and a very last minute decision.........we landed once in iffy conditions and the captain had to keep moving the ship to protect the tender embarkation. I don't think it would be possible to arrange another port on that short notice.

 

Also, since the island is a HAL concession, they have a certain incentive to dock if possible or forfeit a lot of revenue.

[sail7seas]

We've been scheduled to HMC a great many times and I'd say our success rate of actually going ashore has been about 70 - 75% yes.

[kazu]

so what happens on the 50% you don't make it???? is there an alternate port or what?

 

If you don't make it, you are at sea, it's another sea day....you arrive in fort Lauderdale a few hours earlier. that's it, there is no alternative.

 

HMC or sea day. A sea day is still better than a day at work :)

[JJPacer]

Made it all 3 times. Hoping for our 4th in early March. Keeping fingers crossed.

[RetiredMustang]

We did a b2b on Noordam in Feb/march 2010, and I did a blog; I posted after the first visit that we had never missed HMC in the 9 times we had been there, and had never shared it with another ship.

 

So, of couse you know what happened on the second half of the b2b -- we were in with Zuiderdam, and we could not get a safe tendering position and had to go back to sea. The fates frown on hubris, I suppose :D.

 

The issue this last March was the wind -- not so much the intensity, but the direction. The beach (and approach to the tender channel) face almost due west, and we had a stiff westerly wind which was pushing the two ships toward the beach. Both captains tried to get their ships into position to allow for a safe tendering, but were not able to do so.

 

So, we left HMC, and had another day at sea, as others have said. This has no doubt happened before, and the ship had back-up plans with lots of onboard activities that they implemented right away. All in all, not really a bad day at sea, but not as nice as being at HMC of course.

 

So, bottom line, as a single data point -- we are 9 for 10 getting into HMC.

 

Dave

[mariner]

Southwest winds are the worst. Anything over 29 knots.

 

We were just at limit recently on MAASDAM. The tender ride was definitely an E ticket. Water over the bow etc.

 

When the ship can't call, the staff scrambles and there are activities at sea.

[WeRockChalkKU]

Usually, missing Half Moon Cay is weather-related and a very last minute decision.........we landed once in iffy conditions and the captain had to keep moving the ship to protect the tender embarkation. I don't think it would be possible to arrange another port on that short notice.

 

Also, since the island is a HAL concession, they have a certain incentive to dock if possible or forfeit a lot of revenue.

 

Good point...HAL gets all the tour money from this stop so I bet they really try to stop there. On time we stopped and got on the island but most of the tours were cancelled due to the winds. We were at the stingray pen and it was during the first kayak group....I've never seen so many folks paddle hard and not get any where. One poor paddler kept grabbing on to the fence around the stingrays to avoid being blown backwards..yikes.

[LordSpain]

Last January we were told by ship personnel that the average was 30% for missing HMC due to weather. That's pretty close to our experience.

 

Bruce