Carnival cruise...stopping in Half Moon Cay. Any Advice on what to do?

[danielleb25]

hello. im taking my first cruise in august 2007 with carnival. we are stopping in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. Im having a little bit of a problem on finding information about the island. can anyone offer me any advice on what to do and see? or at least what not to do. any help is greatly appreciated.

[KroozFoolz]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Look for threads about Half Moon Cay on the Private Islands section of the Ports of Call board here on Cruise Critic- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=406

 

There is also some information on the Holland American board.

 

You can also go to the Carnival website to see what excursions the cruiseline will offer at HMC.

 

For pictures, go to Webshots and search for Half Moon Cay.

 

 

http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/HalfMoonCay.htm

[airlink diva]

Hi!!

Both Carnival and HAL use Half Moon Cay (HMC). It's great for the perfect beach day!!

The water is a very clear blue and you have to go way out before it get deep.

The sand is a power white sand.

The ships offer clamshells and cabanas for a fee. I was there last month and the fee was $14 for a clamshell and $215 for a cabana.

The clamshell is like a cloth cabana. It comes with two beach chairs. If it get a little hot, open the back a little bit.

Your best bet is to go down the beach for one with fewer people.

The cabanas are small wooden beach shacks that have a/c, a shower, chairs,storage space,etc. I'm not sure if Carnival provides drinks,chips and a fruit plate with the cabanas. It's really nice if you have a small group.

The island also has a lunch area where they serve a BBQ lunch. There's a great bar that's on the bluff overlooking the beach.

There's a small village when you first arrive with limited shopping.

There's also walking paths.

They also offer para sailing, snorkling,horseback riding, stingray,bike riding,etc.

I been to HMC three times and I just love it for relaxing with a great book, going out into the water with a floatie.

Often small schools of fish come close to the shore.

I hope this helps!!

You can also go under the "private island" board under ports of call for more info.

[BEEZALAR]

We were just there in April. If you want any pics e-mail your request to Beezalar@aol.com and I will send em. We rented a cabana and it was great. I didn't want to ever leave. Trisha

[danielleb25]

i know about the carnival shore excursions. they are just not offering alot to do while i am there. i was kinda disappointed when i saw that alot of the featured excursions were not going to be available during my day stay. no snorkel or scuba. just horseback riding and parasailing. things like that. they are however doing a bike ride tour. 3 miles i think. only 19 bucks. has anyone tried it yet?

[KroozFoolz]

According to this thread from the Private Islands board, not all the excursions that will be offered can be booked ahead of time online. You have to wait til you get on the ship/island.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=318961&highlight=bike

see post #10

[danielleb25]

well i called carnival and they said depending on your length of stay and how long the cruise are the deciding factors for what activities will be offered. i really wanted to do the stingray excursion in HMC so that i would have time to do the dolphin excursion in nassau. the cruise isnt offering either expedition on those islands and there is plenty of time.

[tinmanswife]

In fact 3 yrs ago, there's a sign at the entrance to the bar & beach, "I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever"....and you will. Don't worry about having anything to do; just lay in the gorgeous water and stare. You will tender in, so it's a great chance to get a picture of your ship anchored out in the water.

[blackwing]

Loved Half Moon Cay. Perfect for just laying out on the beach or swimming in the crystal clear water. Not much in the way of fish to see while snorkeling, but a nice lazy day.

[racyguy14619]

I'm considering sailing and maybe snorkeling -- I'm going to take my own fins, mask, and snorkel.

[jbags58]

We LOVED Half Moon Cay and it IS the perfect beach day to just relax...however hubby and I did a Kayaking adventure there.

A little tram took us to the other side of the island (not far at all) for this adventure.

 

Despite the fact that we were on our honeymoon and almost got divorced...it was AWESOME!

 

We were in a two man Kayak. Being the sportsperson that I am...I wanted to WIN the race out to another island....but our boat kept rocking badly!! I was like WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? Hubby would say "NOTHING"! This happened several times and it felt like we were going to tip over...lol.. come to find out, there was a large crack in the kayak and the guide had to flip it over and drain all the water out...

 

So off we go back to Half Moon Cay and half way out there the same thing happened....I no sooner said WHAT IS GOING ON....and FLIP we go!!:eek:

 

In order for DH to save his sunglasses, we lost our underwater camera with some good pics on it but we were ok...only to have another boat come out and pic us up! lol..

 

We still laugh about it today but we're still married! :D

 

We also swam in the blue water and enjoyed seeing the caribbean waters for the first time!!

 

ENJOY...it's beautiful!!

[cruiseapril]

We were at Half Moon Cay two weeks ago and enjoyed wonderful swimming, the good BBQ lunch, then the Eco Lagoon Tour excursion in a glass bottom boat- pretty neat view of sea life.

[danielleb25]

quick question...did you guys have to pay the cruise line to take you to the beach? i know they are offering a tram ride to the beach and they say you get a bbq lunch, but i just dont want to pay the 35 bucks to do that. i planned on taking my own snacks.

[bruce-r]

quick question...did you guys have to pay the cruise line to take you to the beach? i know they are offering a tram ride to the beach and they say you get a bbq lunch, but i just dont want to pay the 35 bucks to do that. i planned on taking my own snacks.

 

You do not have to pay to go to the island, the free tenders (boats) will take you there. You can easily walk to the beach.

 

You do not have to pay for the BBQ, it is included in the price of the cruise, just like the food on the ship.

 

You can hang out on the beach all day and pay nothing. The chairs are also free.

 

There are plenty of things you can spend your money on, but they are all optional.

[danielleb25]

thanks for all the help

[mjhdolfan]

Cabana, Cabana, Cabana!

[danielleb25]

i have started a thread on the bahamas section. i need advice on some of the things to be sure not to miss there. could some of you please head that direction and give me some advice. just check out my profile and look for the threads started by me. thanks

[wwwaters]

2nd that!!

Cabana, Cabana, Cabana!

[bruce-r]

2nd that!!

Cabana, Cabana, Cabana!

I agree, but I'd probably stop at just one ;)