Two stops at Half Moon Cay on a 7 day cruise?

[LMaxwell]

Looking at NA for 3/19 sailing and it shows 2 stops at HMC on a 7 day cruise.  What's that about??? 

[oakridger]

Never saw that before, but there it is on the website.  Only other two stops on that 7 day are Amber Cove and Grand Turk.  Hmmm......not a bad itinerary though for a "just floating around the Caribbean" trip!

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

Never saw that before, but there it is on the website.  Only other two stops on that 7 day are Amber Cove and Grand Turk.  Hmmm......not a bad itinerary though for a "just floating around the Caribbean" trip!

Yeah kind of what I am thinking....pretty much all beach stops. 

[High Flyer]

Sounds like a perfect cruise for spring break👎

[CruiserBruce]

It has happened once or twice before. Typically because there was a port that suddenly became unavailable. Rare...but it has happened.

[Cuttersmom]

In the fall, NA was scheduled for dry dock during this time and the cruises were cancelled. That’s obviously changed but they may have cancelled their port space as well and when the dry dock plans changed they might not have been able to get space back. 

[albingirl]

Love HMC, better than Nassau or whatever else is given to us.  Beautiful beach and serene experience.  I'll take it.

[VermeulT]

11 hours ago, oakridger said:

Never saw that before, but there it is on the website.  Only other two stops on that 7 day are Amber Cove and Grand Turk.  Hmmm......not a bad itinerary though for a "just floating around the Caribbean" trip!

Perfect indeed

[Infi]

Perhaps HAL is being strategic and taking a note from Disney's playbook: many of their 7 day itineraries feature a "double dip" (2 stops) at Castaway Cay, as they know how popular the island is for their passengers. If this isn't a calculated move and more out of necessity due to port schedules, it will be interesting to see how the cruise sells and if HAL offers the route again.

[robotpony]

14 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Looking at NA for 3/19 sailing and it shows 2 stops at HMC on a 7 day cruise.  What's that about??? 

 

We had 2 stops at HMC on a 14 day cruise 2 days apart and we weren't at all disappointed. I can imagine booking a 7 day Caribbean cruise with primarily beachy locations if that is what we were in the mood for.

 

 

[KAKcruiser]

I couldn't find any sailings for the Nieuw Amsterdam from February 19 to March 12.  Some of that must be drydock. It seems unlikely they would have that many charters.

[LMaxwell]

I gotta be honest, I'm not a huge fan of HMC.

 

It is "Picture perfect" but as a beach leaves a lot to be desired. I find the beach pretty narrow and shade hard to find.

 

When 2 ships are in port, which has been my experience on both my HAL cruises in past 3 months, the tendering operation is horrible with people waiting for tender ticket numbers until after 11am, but all aboard was 2 or 2:30pm; much too early.

 

And the island lunch was not good. Usually don't have high expectations for those. The presentation was actually very nice, but w 2 ships again long lines and the food wasn't good.

 

I think a lot of those pain points are alleviated if only 1 ship is calling at HMC - Is there any way to know the HMC schedule? I would go onshore the day it is 1 ship (if thats the case) and stay onboard if 2 ships (if thats the case). 

 

CocoCay really set a high standard for Bahamas private beach stops and even without all the bells and whistles, it is still a better beach day than HMC. 

 

However the cruise is silly cheap.  Priced like a 3 night cruise on other lines, for a 7 night cruise. So it won't make or break me, just wondering if we end up bored on an all beach stop cruise? 

[LMaxwell]

4 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

I couldn't find any sailings for the Nieuw Amsterdam from February 19 to March 12.  Some of that must be drydock. It seems unlikely they would have that many charters.

Hmm, did not know the ship was due for a dry dock.  That's a relatively short time - is it just for maintenance and some updates, or are they changing/adding/deleting anything?  I was onboard in October and thought ship looked in excellent condition maintenance wise 

[canadarocks]

3 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Is there any way to know the HMC schedule? I would go onshore the day it is 1 ship (if thats the case) and stay onboard if 2 ships (if thats the case). 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-half-moon-cay-bahamas.html 

[LMaxwell]

4 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-half-moon-cay-bahamas.html 

That's great resource, much appreciated! 

[canadarocks]

Just now, LMaxwell said:

That's great resource, much appreciated! 

It's great for all ports. 🙂 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

Hmm, did not know the ship was due for a dry dock.  That's a relatively short time - is it just for maintenance and some updates, or are they changing/adding/deleting anything?  I was onboard in October and thought ship looked in excellent condition maintenance wise 

You think 21 days is short for a drydock? The standard cruise ship drydock is 2 weeks. And there are requirements for below waterline maintenance that are not visible to the naked eye. There are also requirements for how often a ship needs to be out of the water, depending on it's age.

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, Infi said:

Perhaps HAL is being strategic and taking a note from Disney's playbook: many of their 7 day itineraries feature a "double dip" (2 stops) at Castaway Cay, as they know how popular the island is for their passengers. If this isn't a calculated move and more out of necessity due to port schedules, it will be interesting to see how the cruise sells and if HAL offers the route again.

I think it would be good idea too.  Everyone (well most) love HMC with the nice white sand beach.

easy to walk in and out of the water as some of the other islands have a dip and some pebbles.

 

[KAKcruiser]

The Nieuw Amsterdam hasn't had a drydock in 5 years.  It's about time.

[CruiserBruce]

46 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

The Nieuw Amsterdam hasn't had a drydock in 5 years.  It's about time.

That will mean it's at required dry dock time.

[LMaxwell]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

You think 21 days is short for a drydock? The standard cruise ship drydock is 2 weeks. And there are requirements for below waterline maintenance that are not visible to the naked eye. There are also requirements for how often a ship needs to be out of the water, depending on it's age.

Yes, I think it is short. Maintenance and inspections due by time. Everything you said is what I expect is happening but wonder if there were any changes/updates planned for any of the venues onboard as well. Sometimes a venue may get a cosmetic makeover or something changed. 3 weeks isn't a lot of time so nothing major expected

[richwmn]

3 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

I couldn't find any sailings for the Nieuw Amsterdam from February 19 to March 12.  Some of that must be drydock. It seems unlikely they would have that many charters.

Feb 19th and 26th are charters for Olivia's 50th Anniversary

Mar 5th is a 7 day cruise to San Juan and BVI

 

[CruiserBruce]

17 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Yes, I think it is short. Maintenance and inspections due by time. Everything you said is what I expect is happening but wonder if there were any changes/updates planned for any of the venues onboard as well. Sometimes a venue may get a cosmetic makeover or something changed. 3 weeks isn't a lot of time so nothing major expected

Again, 3 weeks is longer than a standard cruise ship drydock, by a factor of 50%. These drydocks are planned down to the second, months in advance and all required supplies,  equipment,  parts, etc, are all on-site  prior to commencement. Some crew are even kept on board to support the operation. Time out of the water without revenue generating pax on board is money lost.

[LMaxwell]

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Again, 3 weeks is longer than a standard cruise ship drydock, by a factor of 50%. These drydocks are planned down to the second, months in advance and all required supplies,  equipment,  parts, etc, are all on-site  prior to commencement. Some crew are even kept on board to support the operation. Time out of the water without revenue generating pax on board is money lost.

So if its longer than would be needed for the standard 5 year checkup, do you know if anything else is planned in that additional weeks time? Is it maintenance/behind the scenes stuff, or is anything changing or being modified that a guest would notice

[VermeulT]

Interesting that the port charges for this cruise are $208 per person.  Considering HMC has none, so it's only Grand Turk and Amber Cove... $100 pp each?  seems high, no?