HMC vs Princess Cay

[HALrunner]

We love our days at HMC and find it hard to believe another private island could be better! However, we will be drifting over to Princess this fall and are wondering if someone who has been to both ports could tell us how they compare. Specifically, is it worth getting off the ship? We cruise often and don't mind spending a day on an empty ship while everyone else is in port:)

 

Thanks!

[cruz chic]

HMC easily wins. I found princess cay to be quite rocky. I like to walk down the beach. It's hard to do it there. That said, I haven't been to princess cay for at least 5 years, maybe more.

[kazu]

HMC has been voted the best private island for many, many years. We can complain about the pirate bar and whatever else, but is still the nicest IMO.

 

But there are lots of other nice private islands out there.

[OCruisers]

One big positive about Princess Cay is there are Beach Bars just steps from the beach ... not so far back like HMC.

HMC is lovely, but we prefer Princess Cay because where we go on Princess Cay (Banana Beach Bar) suits us better because of the location to the beach, live music, restrooms, buffet, etc.

LuLu

[CruiserBruce]

If you look on the Private Islands board, where this question comes up from time to time, I would say 80% of the time, HMC wins.

 

On the "worth it" scale. That is always your decision, not ours. But as getting off the ship is free, walking around is free, getting some sun, even if for only a couple of hours. The food will be free (included in your fare, before Typhoon1 says anything) All free. At even the most boring sounding port, we usually get off, walk around for 1-3 hours, get some exercise...

Edited July 20, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[Mary Ellen]

I've been to HMC with a friend who mainly cruises Princess. She likes HMC's softer sand and was surprised that there weren't the flies that bothered her at Princess Cay.

 

As to 'another private island that could be better' - I prefer DCL's Castaway Cay to HMC. ;). At least the DCL Adult beach area and cabanas win in my experience.

[cruz chic]

<snip>

 

As to 'another private island that could be better' - I prefer DCL's Castaway Cay to HMC. ;). At least the DCL Adult beach area and cabanas win in my experience.

 

Good info. Thx.

[Aquahound]

We love our days at HMC and find it hard to believe another private island could be better! However, we will be drifting over to Princess this fall and are wondering if someone who has been to both ports could tell us how they compare. Specifically, is it worth getting off the ship? We cruise often and don't mind spending a day on an empty ship while everyone else is in port:)

 

Thanks!

 

Princess Cays is my least favorite private island....and I've been to them all (except Castaway Cay). What's worse, they shut all the bars down at 2:00.

[Himself]

I have only been to HMC. Do any of the Islands have a large pier for a ship to tip up at or are they all tender ports?

[Himself]

HMC has been voted the best private island for many, many years. We can complain about the pirate bar and whatever else, but is still the nicest IMO.

 

But there are lots of other nice private islands out there.

 

I thought the complaining about the pirate bar complaining stopped long ago! I like it very much!

[Aquahound]

I have only been to HMC. Do any of the Islands have a large pier for a ship to tip up at or are they all tender ports?

 

Disney's Castaway Cay and Royal Caribbean's Labadee have a pier. NCL's Harvest Caye in Belize will also have a pier.

[Boytjie]

HMC wins easily. We have been to Princess Cay twice and it is fine; I am a beach person and will always pick a beach over staying onboard the ship.

[Daisyloo]

We have been to MHC and Princess Cays many times and we much prefer HMC.

Getting off at HMC seems to be quicker and easier, as instead of using the ships tenders they use larger island based tenders. Princess uses the ships tenders.

The beach at HMC is much nicer - soft white sand, shallow, no rocks in the water, whereas Princess Cays is very rocky with sharp coral - beach shoes are almost a necessity. Other than that we find them to be similar re food and drink, washrooms etc.

[Krazy Kruizers]

HMC's sand is much softer -- JMO.

[zackiedawg]

I think part of whether one is better than the other will be down to what you want from a private island. If your goal is to have ship-provided facilities, services, and amenities, HMC holds an edge. If your goal is purely about lying on a beach getting sun and dipping in water, the HMC sand and water are better, clearer, smoother, etc.

 

If your goal is having everything in easy reach or walk, Princess' island might have a slight edge as the area where the bars and food are provided is smaller and more dense...though HMC provides trams to get around, it is more spread.

 

If your goal is to go for 100% privacy, to explore the natural surrounds and just take a long walk, both are pretty equal in my eye. I don't partake of much of the ship-provided facilities and amenities when I go to a private island - I generally just take a walk as far as I can away from those 'bar' and 'beach' areas - usually looking for a stretch of beach with no one on it, some nature, flowers, birds, etc to enjoy, and the exercise of a good multi-mile walk. HMC is good for this because it's compact and easy to walk a bit of a circle. Princess Cay is longer - you can stray quite far from the Princess-maintained areas down rocky and coral-reef strewn beach...for me, that's nice because overall very few people ever leave the bar area...even less than at HMC (when I go to the far reaches of HMC, I still run into occasional people due to the horse excursions and the tram that brings people out to the back bay areas...at Princess Cay, once I walk about 1 mile from the facilities, I see no one).

 

So it depends what you want. I'd say HMC probably wins more categories overall, but for me they're about even because they both let me walk and enjoy the more natural parts of the islands away from all the facilities.

[HALrunner]

Princess Cay is longer - you can stray quite far from the Princess-maintained areas down rocky and coral-reef strewn beach...for me, that's nice because overall very few people ever leave the bar area...even less than at HMC (when I go to the far reaches of HMC, I still run into occasional people due to the horse excursions and the tram that brings people out to the back bay areas...at Princess Cay, once I walk about 1 mile from the facilities, I see no one).

.

 

Perfect! This might be our reason to get off the ship! We enjoy getting out and exploring other areas of the island (have you been to the "airport" at HMC?), nice to hear PC will give us that opportunity.

[zackiedawg]

South is really the only way to walk and 'get' somewhere - if you go north, past the last of the chairs and Princess beach area, it's just miles and miles of beach and reef. If you go south, it's about 2 1/4 miles mostly along the beach, sand and occasional transits of reef and rock, or jaunts through the pine scrubland, to get to the end of the island of Eleuthera, where there are some cool rock islands that jut out that you can reach during low tide - and right around the corner is Lighthouse Beach - which some people pay tours to take them to...it is a lovely beach - and even if people are there from a tour, it's often no more than 5-10 and lots of beach to fit everyone. Sandstone cliffs border the beach there, and reef is just off in the shallows. I like the walk.

 

On HMC, I've pretty much covered that entire island - both the official 'roads' and paths as well as some not-on-the-official-path walks - I crossed around the western rocky tip of the island to a small uninhabited beach on the north side that looked like no one had ever stepped foot there before - it was a surprising hike as the rock cliffs get to 50-80 feet on that side. I've always wanted to break to the east side, but it's too well fenced off and impossible to walk that way as you have to go right past all the island officials' huts and boats.

[Typhoon1]

There is no comparison.

 

It doesn't get any better than HMC. You won't find the pristine white sand on PC like you do at HMC.

 

The cruise industry consistently rates HMC as the best and there's a reason.

[Typhoon1]

I have only been to HMC. Do any of the Islands have a large pier for a ship to tip up at or are they all tender ports?

 

Castaway Cay is the only private island you don't have to tender to. Not only did Disney spend the money for a dock, they destroyed some of the natural beauty.

[cruiseJMO]

Princess Cays was painful to walk on, terrible food, terrible service. Idk if it was lack of landscaping (just this past December), but there was no breeze. It was a completely dreadful experience. We wished we had stayed on board. Tendering back to the ship took what felt like forever, as it was so hot standing in line and then they packed us in like sardines.

HMC is paradise!

[megr1125]

Castaway Cay is the only private island you don't have to tender to. Not only did Disney spend the money for a dock, they destroyed some of the natural beauty.

 

Wrong...

 

You no longer have to tender to Labadee, Royal/Celebrity's private island...they built a pier when Oasis was launched......

[iancal]

Have not been to Disney however the HAL, Princess, and Celebrity/RCI private islands do not do very much for us. Too crowded, too commercial, and the beaches are certainly far from being anywhere near the best that the region has to offer.

 

We would sooner have a quiet day on the ship.

Edited July 21, 2015 by iancal

[Boytjie]

Have not been to Disney however the HAL, Princess, and Celebrity/RCI private islands do not do very much for us. Too crowded, too commercial, and the beaches are certainly far from being anywhere near the best that the region has to offer.

 

We would sooner have a quiet day on the ship.

 

Which beaches in the region would you consider better than Half Moon Cay?

[CruiserBruce]

Which beaches in the region would you consider better than Half Moon Cay?

 

Thank you...my question as well. HMC's main beach is as good as any beach I have been to, including many other places in the world.

Edited July 21, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[zackiedawg]

And honestly all you have to do is walk a bit to get away from the commercial and away from the crowds at HMC. It is some of the finest sand and water I've ever seen, and I've been to nearly every island in the Caribbean not to mention I live in a beach town! I don't care as much for beachgoing when on a cruise since I do live near one always, but at HMC anyone looking for a nice, quiet beach only needs to walk about 1/4 mile down the crescent - 99% of all ship passengers that go to HMC hit the first few hundred yards of beach...once you get past the last of the cabanas, you nearly have the beach to yourself - the occasional walkers go by, and the horses go by once or twice.