Carnival Rental Umbrellas at HMC

[audcc77]

Since the cabanas are ridiculously priced now, I went ahead and rented an umbrella for $35.  The umbrella supposedly is good for two people.  
 

I am wondering if it does in fact work for two people.

 

Has anybody had experience with this?   Unless this umbrella is pretty large, I don’t see it.
 

thanks.

[ninjacat123]

5 hours ago, audcc77 said:

Since the cabanas are ridiculously priced now, I went ahead and rented an umbrella for $35.  The umbrella supposedly is good for two people.  
 

I am wondering if it does in fact work for two people.

 

Has anybody had experience with this?   Unless this umbrella is pretty large, I don’t see it.
 

thanks.

I’m curious as well. 😁

[cyntil8ing]

They're not umbrellas, but clamshell sunshades. I've never used one as we spend nearly all of our time in the water. Here's an image I googled.

They're located at the back of the beach, behind all of the other chairs, if view is important to you.

 

When we were there in August, we picked chairs that were in the shade of the two story cabanas. It was shaded for a few hours until the sun rose past them mid-morning.

[nydney1]

The cabana prices are now insane. How can a cabana cost more than the cruise?

 

We had cabanas in the past so I say this just off word of mouth. 
 

I have heard that these are very hot as there is very little airflow.

[audcc77]

The umbrellas are not the clamshells.  
 

The rental umbrellas are a new thing.   Maybe because guests were complaining that there’s little shade near the big ship/bar thing.   
 

I’m grateful to have an umbrella at least, as long as it’s large enough to be considered shade.  
 

Hopefully someone has rented these and will respond.  

[Miss Picante]

We were at HMC this week off the Dream.

 

For 6 of us, I rented 3 umbrellas which was about right.

 

The umbrellas are NOT set  up for you.

 

We had to ask several confused staff members and wander around some before finding the pick up place at the end of the beach, then had to haul them a long way and dig deep holes to set them up ourselves. 

 

Then we had to take them down and carry them back ourselves before leaving.

 

It was great to have shade, but a lot of work.  Fortunately we had some strong guys in our party.

 

People who would find this physically challenging should give this careful consideration.

[ninjacat123]

29 minutes ago, Miss Picante said:

We were at HMC this week off the Dream.

 

For 6 of us, I rented 3 umbrellas which was about right.

 

The umbrellas are NOT set  up for you.

 

We had to ask several confused staff members and wander around some before finding the pick up place at the end of the beach, then had to haul them a long way and dig deep holes to set them up ourselves. 

 

Then we had to take them down and carry them back ourselves before leaving.

 

It was great to have shade, but a lot of work.  Fortunately we had some strong guys in our party.

 

People who would find this physically challenging should give this careful consideration.

Since they have umbrellas for rent did Carnival say personal umbrellas are not allowed ? When we planted an umbrella at the beach in Florida it wasn’t physically bad. This sounds kinda nasty. I appreciate the info👍

[Miss Picante]

HMC is a tender port and the tenders take a lot of people and are crowded.  Taking your own umbrella might be tricky.  Don’t think I saw any private umbrellas there, but maybe if they were compact you could make it work.  But I wouldn’t bet on it.

[tonyhb12]

15 hours ago, Miss Picante said:

We were at HMC this week off the Dream.

 

For 6 of us, I rented 3 umbrellas which was about right.

 

The umbrellas are NOT set  up for you.

 

We had to ask several confused staff members and wander around some before finding the pick up place at the end of the beach, then had to haul them a long way and dig deep holes to set them up ourselves. 

 

Then we had to take them down and carry them back ourselves before leaving.

 

It was great to have shade, but a lot of work.  Fortunately we had some strong guys in our party.

 

People who would find this physically challenging should give this careful consideration.

 

I am getting 2 umbrellas and I was confused about the pick up location.

 

When you say you picked them up at "the end of the beach"  are you referring to the part of the beach where tenders come in or are you referring to the part of the beach at, or past, the Pirate ship?  

 

It does say that you can pick up at either the pirate ship water sport location or the front desk.

 

TIA

[Miss Picante]

Good to know that there are now specific instructions on pick up.  I’d just go with that.  

 

As I recall, the pick up we used was down where the tenders come in, which made it easier to return them while the rest of our group waited in the tender line.

[Homosassa]

15 hours ago, Miss Picante said:

HMC is a tender port and the tenders take a lot of people and are crowded.  Taking your own umbrella might be tricky.  Don’t think I saw any private umbrellas there, but maybe if they were compact you could make it work.  But I wouldn’t bet on it.

We have a portable beach umbrella that collapses and has the pole in segments.  

 

When in its carrying case, it is forty four inches long and nine inches in circumference at its largest point.

 

We have taken the umbrella along on numerous cruises and have used it in ports of call such as Half Moon Cay, Princess Cay, and Grand Turk.

 

There is no problem on any of the tenders.

[runner15km]

Get to the beach early because they over sell the umbrellas and clam shells. 

[VentureMan_2000]

How about chairs and lounges... are those free ?  Are there plenty of them ?

Can you bring your own beach chair ?

[runner15km]

4 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

How about chairs and lounges... are those free ?  Are there plenty of them ?

Can you bring your own beach chair ?

Chairs and lounges are free. 

[VentureMan_2000]

What is HMC ?

 

[hurricane0226]

32 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

What is HMC ?

 

Half moon Cay, Carnival's private Island

[oakridger]

@Miss Picante Can you please tell us what the cost of the umbrella rental is currently?

 

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

[Miss Picante]

I booked them so long ago I can’t remember!

 

But you can probably go to the excursions page for HMC to find out the current price.

[DPTexas]

On 11/26/2023 at 10:09 AM, runner15km said:

Get to the beach early because they over sell the umbrellas and clam shells. 

We originally rented a clamshell for our recent Sept cruise, but I reread the reviews and decided to cancel it.  It was so hot that day we decided to stay onboard and really enjoyed it.  During dinner in the MDR that night, a diner told us she rented one and when she went to claim it there were none left.  She was not offered a refund either.  So, it appears the over-selling is correct and also maybe "over-claiming", too.  Also, if I remember, the reviews said they are hot b/c the clamshell design obstructs any breeze flowing through it.  I reserved one for our Sept 2024 cruise and already cancelled it.  It may be a great deal, but with such a poor reservation system (or lack thereof) it isn't so great if you can't get one - especially after paying for it.

Happy cruising everyone!

[audcc77]

8 hours ago, oakridger said:

@Miss Picante Can you please tell us what the cost of the umbrella rental is currently?

 

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

$34.99

[Homosassa]

On 11/26/2023 at 9:38 PM, hurricane0226 said:

Half moon Cay, Carnival's private Island

Half Moon Cay is the private island "owned" by Holland America Line, another Carnival Corporation subsidiary. 

 

When a HAL ship is not using the island, Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) is allowed to stop there. There will never be a CCL ship porting at the island if a HAL ship is there because the on shore experience on what is available at the buffet and other amenities is different for HAL passengers.

[dacsmom]

On 11/25/2023 at 1:34 PM, cyntil8ing said:

They're not umbrellas, but clamshell sunshades. I've never used one as we spend nearly all of our time in the water. Here's an image I googled.

They're located at the back of the beach, behind all of the other chairs, if view is important to you.

 

When we were there in August, we picked chairs that were in the shade of the two story cabanas. It was shaded for a few hours until the sun rose past them mid-morning.

The umbrellas are not the clam shells, they are umbrellas you pick up and take to wherever you want. 

[oakridger]

12 hours ago, audcc77 said:

$34.99

 

Thank you, but dang, it seems like a high price to just "rent" an umbrella!!!   But the cabana prices are also outrageous in my opinion!  As always, everyone decides what is valuable to them to spend their money on.

 

~Nancy

 

[dacsmom]

On 11/28/2023 at 6:25 PM, oakridger said:

 

Thank you, but dang, it seems like a high price to just "rent" an umbrella!!!   But the cabana prices are also outrageous in my opinion!  As always, everyone decides what is valuable to them to spend their money on.

 

~Nancy

 

I would maybe consider the umbrella if they set it up. No way if I have to drag it down the beach and set it up myself.

[tonyhb12]

I'm curious if anybody knows exactly where to pick up the umbrella.  Has anybody picked up by the pirate ship?  I would prefer that because I wanted to sit pretty far down the beach to escape crowds.

 

Thanks