Half Moon Cay with Multiple Ships?

[AryMay]

From what I can tell, the Veendam will be sharing Half Moon Cay with the Volendam and also the Carnival Sunshine when we are there in November. Besides the fact that the island will be pretty crowded, how do ships from different cruise lines (HAL & Carnival) share the BBQ area? 

 

Any other differences that we will notice compared to a "one ship in port" day?

[DFD1]

There is plenty of space on the island for the passengers from those two ships. Having them both there should not have a negative impact of your visit.

 

We've been there with two much larger ships and the impact was not unpleasant.

 

There's lots of space on Half Moon Cay

[catl331]

14 minutes ago, AryMay said:

From what I can tell, the Veendam will be sharing Half Moon Cay with the Volendam and also the Carnival Sunshine when we are there in November. Besides the fact that the island will be pretty crowded, how do ships from different cruise lines (HAL & Carnival) share the BBQ area? 

 

Sites such as cruisetimetables.com sometimes show a Carnival ship there with a HAL ship, but to my knowledge it has never happened.  When the date nears, the Carnival ship will be changed to another stop.  As far as having the two HAL ships together, the load will be not much more than just the Koningsdam or N.S. alone. We have been there with two Vistas, and it wasn't bad.

Edited September 21, 2019 by catl331

[richwmn]

7 minutes ago, AryMay said:

From what I can tell, the Veendam will be sharing Half Moon Cay with the Volendam and also the Carnival Sunshine when we are there in November. Besides the fact that the island will be pretty crowded, how do ships from different cruise lines (HAL & Carnival) share the BBQ area? 

 

Any other differences that we will notice compared to a "one ship in port" day?

Not sure where you got your information that a Carnival Ship will be at HMC along with 2 HAL ships, hasn't happened yet and according to everything posted never will. It is too much of a logistical problem. The Carnival ship will be rescheduled for another port. In addition, as far as I know, there has never been a time that more than two ships called at HMC at the same time - at least not HAL. I guess Carnival might have.

 

[DFD1]

It would be an unwelcome departure from the norm for a Carnival ship to be there with HAL ships.  The outcry from HAL passengers would be heard all the way from Half Moon Cay to HAL headquarters in Seattle.

 

I don't think you have to worry about that.

[AryMay]

Cruise time tables and cruisett both show the Sunshine on the schedule for Half Moon Cay on November 19th. 

 

I was mostly curious how the BBQ was handled when multiple ships (and cruiselines) share the island. What if it is just the two HAL ships? Do they share the BBQ or will there be separate lines for each ship? Not a big deal...just wondering. 

 

A couple of years ago we were on the Nieuw Amsterdam and had to share Amber Cove with the Carnival Victory when the hurricanes messed with our itinerary. The Victory was a charter and had full use of the pool and waterpark so none of the passengers from our ship were allowed to even enter the area. A lot of complaining happened that day for sure! 

 

[catl331]

16 minutes ago, AryMay said:

Do they share the BBQ or will there be separate lines for each ship?

One line. One ship does the  "catering" for both.  One ship will use their own tenders and the other will use the large island-based tenders. I think that's at least in part to help people avoid going back to the wrong ship!

 

p.s. - Veendam plus Volendam total 2780 pax while a single Pinnacle ship is 2650.

Edited September 21, 2019 by catl331

[msmayor]

We've been at HMC with two ships - we had no trouble finding loungers (but did move further down the beach to stay away from the bigger crowds.

 

Because there were SO many more people than when we were there previously with just one ship, we only spent a couple hours on the island and then took an early tender back to the ship for lunch.  We just didn't want to wait in the longer lines for food, and didn't want to spend a lot of time waiting for the tender.  

 

Still had a wonderful time enjoying our favorite spot in the Caribbean!

[CruiserBruce]

There has never been a Carnival ship there with a HAL ship. There has never been more than 2 ships there at the same time.

 

The Carnival ship will change their route.

[rafinmd]

Sadly, I've only been to HMC once, but I think I have a fair idea of the layout.  I think a HAL ship with a Carnival ship would be possible (but an unlikely first) as I think there are 2 barbecue areas and they could in theory have one for each cruise line, and the cost of the barbecue would not likely justify checking cruise cards.  What I think is absolutely impossible is having 3 ships (even if they are all HAL ships) as I think there are only 2 loading docks for the tenders and getting people back to the right ship would be a nightmare.

 

I will agree that the expected outcome is for the Sunshine to go elsewhere.

 

The time I was there on the Koningsdam when we shared the island with the Nieuw Amsterdam, and it was no problem.  I thought the 2 crews worked together and I did ask one server which ship he was on and it was the other ship, no issues at all.  Volendam and Veendam would be totally a piece of cake.

 

Roy

[kazu]

1 hour ago, AryMay said:

Cruise time tables and cruisett both show the Sunshine on the schedule for Half Moon Cay on November 19th. 

 

I was mostly curious how the BBQ was handled when multiple ships (and cruiselines) share the island. What if it is just the two HAL ships? Do they share the BBQ or will there be separate lines for each ship? Not a big deal...just wondering. 

 

A couple of years ago we were on the Nieuw Amsterdam and had to share Amber Cove with the Carnival Victory when the hurricanes messed with our itinerary. The Victory was a charter and had full use of the pool and waterpark so none of the passengers from our ship were allowed to even enter the area. A lot of complaining happened that day for sure! 

 

 

Everyone is correct - there had NEVER been a HAL and. Carnival ship there at the same time.

 

While the various cruise schedules (like cruisett) aren’t always accurate, I got curious.

 

The Sunshine is on a musical charter and the itinerary does indeed show a stop at a private island on November 19th.  

 

I suspect they will just flip the itinerary a bit, but if it is there, do report.  Everyone will want to know for sure.  Hopefully, it is not the case as usual.

[sevenseasnomad]

Bar-b-que opens at 11:30 generally.  Passengers from both ships share the bar-b-que.  When two ships are at HMC, we take one of two courses.  We either show up early, grab our table and wait for the indication that they're ready to serve.  We never encounter a line, but a lot of people don't want to eat lunch that early. 

 

The other alternative is to wait until most of the passengers have eaten.  We may encounter a small line with the second choice, but wait time is generally less than 5 minutes.

 

We've been to HMC so many times that we sometimes skip the bar-b-que and head back to the ship, where the Lido Market Place serves lunch.   

 

As others have observed, having a Carnival ship at HMC with any HAL ship would draw the wrath of hundreds of HAL passengers.  If that sounds snobbish, sorry.  It would be extremely disappointing if it ever happened.

[rkacruiser]

Never has been an issue when two ships of whatever company is there.  One ship seems to supply crew and beverages to stock the bars and the other supplies crew and supplies to serve the BBQ.  Much, shall I say much, improvement has been implemented in the processing of guests when they are ready to return to their ships.  A covered shelter has been built with separate lines for the different ships' guests to wait until a tender arrives to take them back to their "new home".  The lines for the different ships are clearly marked.

 

If there was an issue, it was trying to get a seat at the "I Could Stay Here Forever" Bar overlooking the beach

 

 

[catl331]

 

20 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said:

As others have observed, having a Carnival ship at HMC with any HAL ship would draw the wrath of hundreds of HAL passengers.  If that sounds snobbish, sorry.  It would be extremely disappointing if it ever happened.

I believe Carnival charges much less than HAL for cabana and clamshell rentals, and maybe excursions too. Keeping the reservations and billing straight between two lines would be a nightmare. I would be very, very surprised if they ever mixed the two lines.  Just not worth the logistical problems.

[cruisebie]

This should shed some light. It looks like the Sunshine is headed to Princess Cay.

 

https://carnivalcruisecharters.com/

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, cruisebie said:

This should shed some light. It looks like the Sunshine is headed to Princess Cay.

 

https://carnivalcruisecharters.com/

Hate to say I told you so...

 

NONE of the websites that consolidate port info is 100% accurate. On the Private Island board, where HMC is very commonly discussed, there are multiple threads discussing the concept of multiple ships, and even multiple cruise lines. One poster showed everyone a listing that had 4 ships listed...the poster didn't realize it was the same two ships listed twice!

[FlaMariner]

We were on the NS in January and the Veendam joined us in HMC.  

 

No issues at all.  The island easily handled two HAL ships.......

 

(If we ever pull up to HMC and I see a Carnival ship,  Game Over! LOL....Can you imagine?  Perish the thought....there goes the neighborhood..LOL.....what?  belly flop contest in the snorkeling area.  Budweiser beer cans and cigarette butts on the white sand......all you can eat bacon at the BBQ...LOL....YMCA playing non stop from that pirate ship bar.....HAL passengers storming the tenders to get back to our dark hulls and get out of there....LOL...just having fun, no harm intended)

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been to HMC when 2 large HAL ships were there.  Went over for just a couple of hours.  Returned to the ship for a quiet lunch.

[sail7seas]

On 9/21/2019 at 5:36 PM, msmayor said:

We've been at HMC with two ships - we had no trouble finding loungers (but did move further down the beach to stay away from the bigger crowds.

 

Because there were SO many more people than when we were there previously with just one ship, we only spent a couple hours on the island and then took an early tender back to the ship for lunch.  We just didn't want to wait in the longer lines for food, and didn't want to spend a lot of time waiting for the tender.  

 

Still had a wonderful time enjoying our favorite spot in the Caribbean!

 

HMC will be fine wi th only Veendam and Volendam.  I join  those who are skeptical a (any)  Carnival ship will share  the island with HAL. They only go t  here when   there is no HAL ship at    HMC.

 

That has been my understanding.

 

when there are two HAL ships, they work well together.   In advance, they arrange one ship will provide food and  the other will handle bars.   One pays  the other if necessary  in  order   to keep it fair.  🙂

 

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by sail7seas

[fatcat04]

On 9/21/2019 at 4:20 PM, DFD1 said:

It would be an unwelcome departure from the norm for a Carnival ship to be there with HAL ships.  The outcry from HAL passengers would be heard all the way from Half Moon Cay to HAL headquarters in Seattle.

 

I don't think you have to worry about that.

No joke. Grand Turk with HAL and sharing the beach (and Margarittaville whose sound system is impossible to avoid) with one of those 3-5 day Carnival cruises taught me that lesson, and fast. We have been on Carnival for a longer cruise and it was a nice cruise but those short Caribbean booze cruises... eekk. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by fatcat04

[AryMay]

2 hours ago, fatcat04 said:

No joke. Grand Turk with HAL and sharing the beach (and Margarittaville whose sound system is impossible to avoid) with one of those 3-5 day Carnival cruises taught me that lesson, and fast. We have been on Carnival for a longer cruise and it was a nice cruise but those short Caribbean booze cruises... eekk. 

 

Thanks for all of the replies and I am feeling much better knowing it is likely that there will only be the two HAL ships sharing Half Moon Cay.

 

Actually our first scheduled visit to Half Moon Cay was on a Carnival ship some years ago...but...we didn't make it. The cruise was in early March and the ship was full of college age "spring breakers". So. Much. Drinking.

 

One of the drunk college students went overboard in the middle of the night but it wasn't discovered until hours later. Our ship sailed 6 hours back to the location that the ship was in when the video surveillance cameras showed he had fallen and did an extensive search (along with other ships in the area.) Sadly, but not surprising, the young man was never found, our day at Half Moon Cay was cancelled and that was our last Carnival cruise.

 

We finally got our chance to visit Half Moon Cay a couple of years ago on a HAL cruise and we loved it. This time we are doing B2B cruises and (Lord willing) we will get to enjoy the island two times in November!

[catl331]

On 9/21/2019 at 11:15 PM, FlaMariner said:

If we ever pull up to HMC and I see a Carnival ship,  Game Over! LOL....Can you imagine?  Perish the thought...

I would go over to the Island just long enough to find out how bad it was!  

 

IIRC there recently was an announcement that HAL (or Carnival Corp) is planning on spending something like $80M to build a pier, so maaaaaaaaaybe someday there will be a time when HAL and C are there together.  😱 

Edited September 24, 2019 by catl331

[nursemommy7578]

I just checked and in February we will have a Carnival ship with us

[catl331]

 

34 minutes ago, nursemommy7578 said:

I just checked and in February we will have a Carnival ship with us

The next dates that cruisetimetables.com says HAL will share HMC with a Carnival ship are 10/29 and 11/5.  I suggest you bring this thread up again after those dates to see what ships were actually there.

 

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, nursemommy7578 said:

I just checked and in February we will have a Carnival ship with us

No, you won't. One ship, probably the Carnival ship, will change it's route.