HAL and Carnival at HMC together - Does this ever happen?

[Iamthesea]

I sure hope not!!!  Just saw this news. Carnival making changes to HMC

[BermudaBound2014]

It's bound to happen. The new pier was designed to accommodate the Excel class ships and all three (Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee) have Half Moon Cay on the 25-26 itineraries. 

 

Did you see this article? It details the Carnival ships that are already scheduled to stop at HMC.

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/08/carnival-announces-new-2026-and-2027-itineraries-calls-at-half-moon-cay/

 

 

[Sir PMP]

Enjoy the Zoo:

[CruiserBruce]

It has been policy for decades the two companies don't share the island at the same time.

[ski ww]

That would get pretty crowded with large those large Carnival ships.

[lfmheb]

Things change. March 3 2025 Carnival Magic and N.Amsterdam. March 17 2025 Carnival Magic and Rotterdam. Magic has 4000 passengers.

[quilty964]

Feb 10 2025 a carnival and Hal ship are scheduled to be there together

[markpark]

3 minutes ago, quilty964 said:

Feb 10 2025 a carnival and Hal ship are scheduled to be there together

Jan 7 2025 also.

[CruiserBruce]

In the past, days with both cruise lines scheduled show up, then one ship gets re-assigned elsewhere. Has happened many, many times in the past.

 

One reason they don't share is the different charging systems for drinks and other expenses.

[BermudaBound2014]

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

In the past, days with both cruise lines scheduled show up, then one ship gets re-assigned elsewhere. Has happened many, many times in the past.

 

One reason they don't share is the different charging systems for drinks and other expenses.

 

With the addition of the new pier, built especially to handle Carnival Excel Class, I suspect HAL and Carnival will be sharing HMC in the future. Time will tell. 

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

With the addition of the new pier, built especially to handle Carnival Excel Class, I suspect HAL and Carnival will be sharing HMC in the future. Time will tell. 

Is the new pier, and associated facilities open? Close to open? As I understand the new facilities are are on different parts of the island, so the two ships wouldn't interact. That is a different situation.

[BermudaBound2014]

16 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Is the new pier, and associated facilities open? Close to open? As I understand the new facilities are are on different parts of the island, so the two ships wouldn't interact. That is a different situation.

 

Google Earth and Google Maps don't show any significant progress that I can note. CCL has been boasting the pier will be completed since 2019 (granted Covid slowed things down). 

 

It was always the intent to build a pier to accommodate the bigger Carnival ships. And now with Celebration Key, Carnival ships (well all CCL ships) can do 7 day itineraries without stopping anywhere but private 'islands' (Princess Cay, Half Moon Cay, and Celebration Key.) Now there's a captive audience. 

 

This is from 2019

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Carnival-building-private-destination-on-Grand-Bahama

 

 

Lots of chatter about the new pier, but nothing concrete about an opening day. This article describes some of the additions CCL plans to bring to HMC

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnivals-large-excel-class-ships-to-call-at-upgraded-private-island/143013

 

Edited August 28 by BermudaBound2014

[oakridger]

I also don't see how both lines would share the island because of the drink charges, as mentioned, but also the crew from the ship are the ones bringing the food and drinks over from the ship and staffing the food and bars.  Sounds too confusing and crowded for sure!

 

~Nancy

[POA1]

Price out the HMC cabanas on HAL and CCL. Same facilities. Very different price points.

[Cruise Suzy]

Of our six booked HMC stops, two of them are shared with a Carnival ship and one has a shared stop with a HAL ship. 

[*Miss G*]

We’ve been in port with another HAL ship but never with another line. I’ve seen where itineraries have changed when two lines have it listed on the same day. 

[AryMay]

7 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

We’ve been in port with another HAL ship but never with another line. I’ve seen where itineraries have changed when two lines have it listed on the same day. 

I hope you are correct. Currently we (Eurodam) are scheduled to share HMC with the Carnival Sunshine next March. ☹️

[POA1]

1 hour ago, AryMay said:

I hope you are correct. Currently we (Eurodam) are scheduled to share HMC with the Carnival Sunshine next March. ☹️

I will happily bet you a dollar that you will not be in HMC with a Carnival ship.

 

Tell me the date and I'll lay you 4:1, up to $25. (Hint: Check the Carnival site for the schedule, not some port board.)

[Iamthesea]

13 hours ago, oakridger said:

I also don't see how both lines would share the island because of the drink charges, as mentioned, but also the crew from the ship are the ones bringing the food and drinks over from the ship and staffing the food and bars.  Sounds too confusing and crowded for sure!

 

~Nancy

Last spring, we were on an Oceania cruise when it docked on their private island, Harvest Cay. We tendered (I think) and then had to walk a mile on the dock to get to the island.  There was a huge NCL docked at the island.  Thousands of people from both cruiselines sharing the same bars, eateries, etc.  We just showed our cards.  Now, the food was already there, so no staff bringing food from the ships.

[BermudaBound2014]

52 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I will happily bet you a dollar that you will not be in HMC with a Carnival ship.

 

Tell me the date and I'll lay you 4:1, up to $25. (Hint: Check the Carnival site for the schedule, not some port board.)

 

Ooooo I'll gladly take the bet that Carnival and HAL ships will share HMC once the pier is finished.  I'll even lay you 4:1 up to $25 😄 

 

 

 

 

 

13 hours ago, oakridger said:

I also don't see how both lines would share the island because of the drink charges, as mentioned, but also the crew from the ship are the ones bringing the food and drinks over from the ship and staffing the food and bars.  Sounds too confusing and crowded for sure!

 

~Nancy

 

21 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

One reason they don't share is the different charging systems for drinks and other expenses.

 

I'm not sure that matters much since a fix would be relatively easy. CCL already knows how to share private islands between two brands since both Princess and Carnival dock at Mahogany Bay on the same day.  Celebrity and Royal Caribbean also figured it out once they both started sharing Coco Cay last year (this is Independence of the Seas and Celebrity Edge both docked at CocoCay, a pier makes all the difference). And as @Iamthesea mentioned, both Oceana and NCL share Stirrup Cay on the same day. I get that historically this hasn't been done, but with the addition of a new pier I suspect times are changing. 

 

Edited August 29 by BermudaBound2014

[Iamthesea]

Correction:  I just checked and we did not tender at Harvest Caye, but we did get the short end of the stick by having to walk onto the island by that huge long dock!!!  

Edited August 29 by Iamthesea

[AryMay]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

I will happily bet you a dollar that you will not be in HMC with a Carnival ship.

 

Tell me the date and I'll lay you 4:1, up to $25. (Hint: Check the Carnival site for the schedule, not some port board.)

 

Well, that is one bet I would hope to lose but sorry, no deal.

 

I just checked the Carnival site and it shows the Sunshine scheduled to stop at HMC on the same day that the Eurodam is to be there. (March 11, 2025) 

 

About six years ago (on our first HAL cruise) we ended up sharing Amber Cove with a Carnival ship. To make things even worse the Carnival ship was a charter and the whole pool area had been "reserved" for just their group.  None of the HAL passengers even got a glimpse of the pool. I just went back on board the ship and enjoyed the pool there. 

[HappyInVan]

22 hours ago, lfmheb said:

Things change. March 3 2025 Carnival Magic and N.Amsterdam. March 17 2025 Carnival Magic and Rotterdam. Magic has 4000 passengers.

 

Too much. Too much.

[Torquer]

It's not the number of passengers that would bother me...it is the type of passengers that are on a Carnival cruise.  From my many cruises on HAL, I view most of the passengers as older, more sophisticated travelers.  On the other hand, from my zero cruises on Carnival, my perception is that they are generally much younger, like to party, and drink a lot more.  Perhaps I am wrong and hopefully I am not offending anyone reading who likes Carnival cruises, but that is just my perception.  But it is also shared by other people I have talked to on our cruises.  If it was a HAL ship and a Princess ship at HMC together, I wouldn't be concerned from this point of view, although the total number of people on HMC might be a problem.

[Laminator]

16 hours ago, AryMay said:

I hope you are correct. Currently we (Eurodam) are scheduled to share HMC with the Carnival Sunshine next March. ☹️

You can pretty much take it to the bank that one of those ships will have an itinerary change.