HAL private island beach issues

[PC 462]

I've always enjoyed our many visits to Half Moon Cay- the multi-colored, calm, warm water, the powdery sand.  But, last Friday, the beach was strewn with pebbles and rocks large enough to twist an ankle.  It made me wish I'd worn my water shoes for protection.

Perhaps this was from beach replenishment, but it would have been nice to have raked up so that the soft powder could have been enjoyed.  I will include this in my survey from HAL.

I'll be going again next month, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[VMax1700]

47 minutes ago, PC 462 said:

Perhaps this was from beach replenishment

or was it because the powdery sand had been washed away by wind driven waves?

[ski ww]

Must have had some strong wind, waves & current. Hope they fix it soon. 

[CruiserBruce]

Mother Nature always has the final say.

[washiotter]

There was a pretty massive storm, I hear. 

[leerathje]

There was a horrible storm in South Florida late last week with over 25 inches of rain in FLL, and the airport was closed.  Apparently, it was a 1 in 1000 year storm.  That very well could be why.

 

L.

 

[carnivaljunkie]

It can also be a tide issue. I was on back to back cruises in February and the beach was much wider in two day's.

[albingirl]

We have so many strong storms where I live. The tides can move sea walls, not to mention smaller stones. 

[millennial]

I am going to Alaska in May. If I don't see whales from my balcony I will also be letting HAL know in my survey.

[DCDragonfly]

"I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all this."  -- Jack Dawson

[slidergirl]

well, at least it was rocks on the beach, not sargassum...

[Colorado Klutch]

My brother just did a Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam. His port call at Half Moon Cay was cancelled due to a medivac, but he said the past few cruises also had Half Moon cancelled due to very high winds. 

Whatcha gonna do?
 

 

[AKJonesy]

More and more people are reporting medivacs on their cruises like never before.  We had 4 medical issues in November on Zuiderdam.  Fortunately we were still in port in San Diego for one but the other 3 were out at sea.  We missed two ports.  

[doone]

We were there last month and it was beautiful, nice sand.  I will assume it was some of the strong winds folks were talking about here.  Not the norm for sure.

[PC 462]

On 4/18/2023 at 1:59 PM, DCDragonfly said:

"I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all this."  -- Jack Dawson

Thanks for helping me keep it in perspective!

[PC 462]

6 hours ago, Colorado Klutch said:

My brother just did a Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam. His port call at Half Moon Cay was cancelled due to a medivac, but he said the past few cruises also had Half Moon cancelled due to very high winds. 

Whatcha gonna do?
 

 

That happened to us a few years ago on Nieuw Amsterdam.  High winds made docking at Grand Turk unsafe and then made tendering at Half Moon Cay unsafe.  Bad weather followed us and we weren't allowed on deck for a couple of days.  It gave us a chance to really enjoy all that the ship had to offer.  It turned out to be one of our favorite cruises!

[Colorado Klutch]

1 hour ago, PC 462 said:

That happened to us a few years ago on Nieuw Amsterdam.  High winds made docking at Grand Turk unsafe and then made tendering at Half Moon Cay unsafe.  Bad weather followed us and we weren't allowed on deck for a couple of days.  It gave us a chance to really enjoy all that the ship had to offer.  It turned out to be one of our favorite cruises!

 

When life gives you, "Doh!", make Dohnuts. 

[ClippyJoe]

Thanks for Frank Sinatra !

[OlsSalt]

6 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

More and more people are reporting medivacs on their cruises like never before.  We had 4 medical issues in November on Zuiderdam.  Fortunately we were still in port in San Diego for one but the other 3 were out at sea.  We missed two ports.  

 

Five major medical incidents, including some rumored fatalities on our 2022/23 Konigdam Christmas/New Year's cruise.  That we knew about.

 

Two we saw right in front of us - one at the after deck hot tub, another in the Main Dining Room across from us - HAL staff responded promptly and professionally.  Others cause course deviations, including a unexpected return to Cabo for a zodiac medical transport from the ship. 

 

Odd - no ready explanation in our past few years of medical topsy turvy. 

[Banditswife]

We've had medical evacs on our last 2 cruises, not sure of details.  But anything can change w/o notice.  We just do our best to enjoy what ever comes our way.

[Nickelpenny]

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Five major medical incidents, including some rumored fatalities on our 2022/23 Konigdam Christmas/New Year's cruise.  That we knew about.

 

Two we saw right in front of us - one at the after deck hot tub, another in the Main Dining Room across from us - HAL staff responded promptly and professionally.  Others cause course deviations, including a unexpected return to Cabo for a zodiac medical transport from the ship. 

 

Odd - no ready explanation in our past few years of medical topsy turvy. 

I was on that cruise.  Weird to hear the "crash call", as we nurse call it, 6 times on that cruise.  Was a cruise to remember in terms of medical incidents.

[shipshape sam]

No medical issues on our Rotterdam sailing in March that we were aware of.  No medical vehicles waiting at any ports of call that we saw.  We have been on sailings where there were medical events requiring evacuation.  One was in Bahamas and the ship was diverted to a port close by.  

 

Does anyone know if there is a possibility of a dock for Half Moon Cay?  That would help to get more ships to the island.  Still might have issues when winds are above a certain speed or waves higher than 'x' number of feet as I would suspect that any dock would no be fully protected.

[Banditswife]

We were on N Statendam last Nov.  Had left Freeport headed for Port Everglades, then in the middle of the night I woke up to flashing red lights outside our OV on deck 1.  Freaked me out at 1st, until I realized we must have had to turn around & go back to Freeport for a medical evacuation.  I watched the ambulance pull away w/ lights on.

[shipshape sam]

35 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

We were on N Statendam last Nov.  Had left Freeport headed for Port Everglades, then in the middle of the night I woke up to flashing red lights outside our OV on deck 1.  Freaked me out at 1st, until I realized we must have had to turn around & go back to Freeport for a medical evacuation.  I watched the ambulance pull away w/ lights on.

Freeport is where we were diverted to.  It was daylight.  Do not recall how long after leaving Nassau that the medical issue happened.

 

Anyway, I for sure have no problem with cruise line doing what they can to get appropriate medical care to  a passenger.  Might be me sometime in future if we continue to sail as we age. 🙂

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, shipshape sam said:

 

Does anyone know if there is a possibility of a dock for Half Moon Cay?  That would help to get more ships to the island.  Still might have issues when winds are above a certain speed or waves higher than 'x' number of feet as I would suspect that any dock would no be fully protected.

 

I believe it is the coral reef around the island that prevents having a channel dredged and a pier erected. The ships equipped with dynamic positioning use that system instead of anchoring to get closer to the island.