What's it like at Half Moon Cay?!?

[Sun Bathing Beauty]

Hello Cruise-Goers,

 

We are sailing out February 11... on the Imagination with Carnival! One of the stops is Half Moon Cay! Anyone who has made the stop to Carnival's Private Island, can you give me an idea of what there is to do... what there is to see... is all food included due to it being part of Carnival... is drinking same price as being on the boat!?!?

 

Any thing would be helpful! :o

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Instead of this Bahamas thread, there is another thread for Private Islands where you will find full details about HMC. I would say that HMC and Disney's Castaway Cay are my favorites and are both much better than RCI's Coco Cay and NCL's Little Stirrup Cay.

 

BobK/Orlando

[eh2zed]

HMC is actually Holland Americas private island that Carnival also uses. All you need to know about HMC including a video www.hollandamerica.com/dest/halfMoonCay.do You will love HMC

[Sun Bathing Beauty]

Instead of this Bahamas thread, there is another thread for Private Islands where you will find full details about HMC. I would say that HMC and Disney's Castaway Cay are my favorites and are both much better than RCI's Coco Cay and NCL's Little Stirrup Cay.

 

BobK/Orlando

 

 

I looked to see if they had a private island message board... but couldn't find it!

[mobilemac]

My wife and I stopped at HMC last fall on HAL's Westerdam repositioning cruise from Seattle to Ft Lauderdale ... we had a fabulous day!! HAL has large tenders stationed on HMC that ran all day. The sand was smooth like sugar, both on the beach and in the water. Food was brought from the ship to the island and lunch was handled exactly as if we were aboard ship. We parasailed (I highly recommend), we rode bikes, it was a magical day. Only mistake I made was forgetting sunscreen and getting a bit burned - oh well...

[twinkletoes4445]

Here's a couple of CC's posters pics from HMC...

 

http://www.brobertson.org/HMC-webgallery/

 

http://www.webshots.com/search?query=ziggy+hmc&new=1&source=chromeheader

 

We were on the Zuiderdam and visited HMC last Feb. We had a cabana and butler...and had a wonderful day!

 

If you want a cabana, you'll have to reserve one once you get on your ship. We were able to reserve ours ahead of time online, which was nice. I don't know why Carnival doesn't do it this way, but they don't.

 

We had a BBQ, which was brought from the ship, but we ended up not doing this since we had a butler. But it looked very good...usual stuff...chicken, burgers, fruit, potato salad...etc.

 

There's a little shop that you can buy souvenirs (they take your ship card). There's a few of those straw market shops, and you'll need cash for these (hair braiding, t-shirts).

 

HMC is beautiful. If you don't want to do a thing, just grab a lounger and enjoy the day. :)

 

Here's a list of other things that were available at HMC (from our excursion list). I'm not sure if Carnival will have all these things, or if the prices will be the same. This is what HAL charged and offered. :)

 

Aqua Trax (1-hr) This is a guided tour on a jetski $59

Horseback riding (land and sea) (1 1/4 hours)$79

Stingray Adventure (1 hour) $29

Parasailing (1 hour) $69

Snorkel by Boat (1 1/2 hours) $49

Eco Lagoon Kayak Adventure (1 1/2 hours) $39

Deep Sea Fishing (2 hours) $119

Eco Lagoon Cruise ( 1 1/4 hours) $39 adults & $29 kids

Glass Bottom Boat (45 minutes) $29 adults & $19 kids

Historic Nature Walk (1 1/2 hours) $19

Island Bike Tour (1 1/2 hours) $19

 

Island Massages-$25-$65

 

Hobie Catamaran rental (1 hour) $50

Sunfish Sailboat Rental (1 hour) $40

Single person kayak (1 hour) $25

Double person kayak (1 hour) $50

Water Bike-1 person (1 hour) $25

Water Bike-2 person (1 hour) $30

Paddle Boat-2 person (1 hour) $40

Snorkel gear rental for the day-$16 adult, $10 kids

Floating Mattress-$9 for the day

Clamshell $14 for the day

Cabana $249 for four people

 

Have a great time! :)