Lunch at Half Moon Cay ???

[sail7seas]

I've read comments like "don't expect too much from lunch at HMC" and some posters have said they were disappointed with it.

 

We have always enjoyed having our ribs and salads etc and think it the perfect lunch for a day at the beach.

 

It puzzles me what more people would expect to realistically be served when you consider all food, all cooking materials, serving trays.....everything must be carted from the ship, onto tenders and the Clipper and brought ashore. It all must be packed up and returned to the ship when we leave.

 

Hamburgers/cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, bean salad, cole slaw, potato salad, potato chips, sliced lettuce, tomatoes, onion, corn on the cob, beans, brownies, cookies, ice tea......(I think there may even be fish offered). I know I have not included the entire menu here but cannot think of the rest at the moment.

 

What else do people want for a beach lunch?

[intandemNV]

Sounds great to me!! I'll be trying it for the first time in January.;)

[gizmo]

I must have missed or forgotten those comments about lunch on HMC. What were the expectations?

 

I think the food is good at HMC and there are plenty of selections. I always enjoyed the watermelon.:)

[doone]

I have always been happy with the food at HMC. Maybe I am missing something also!!!!!

[JohnR49er]

Let me just add that last month they were grilling steaks also. That surprised me and they were very good.

Don't think they could have added much more to this fine BBQ.:)

[localady]

We had a lovely picnic at HMC on 12/3/04! What else could you want?? The ribs are the best and the hamburgers, chicken and ribs are grilled fresh. The fruits were such a treat and wonderful! The chocolate chip cookies were great too!!;)

 

:cool:

[tommy]

Thats one posting Ive have not seen.Very little negativity about HMC.We had a great time there. TOM

[dakrewser]

Heck, the food is the best part of HMC in my opinion...

 

 

:) -dave

[tommy]

Hey we agree on something.Actually there were a couple other postings but they didnt apply to me so I didnt get into them. TOM

[DFD1]

We've been down to HMC 5 times. Had lunch four times and it was always great. The fifth time (last month), we were sharing HMC with Oosterdam and the lunch was over-run with people so we just went back on board for lunch. No problem. Otherwise we had a wonderful day. Our clamshell was a prized possession and coveted by many who came ashore late or without a clamshell reservation.

[sail7seas]

We haven't seen steaks offered at the barbeque. I wonder if this will become standard for all the ships' visits to HMC?

[CrabbyHarper]

Hmmm. Both times I have been on HMC was on a Maasdam cruise. There was a BBQ on the Lido deck of the ship - but I was not aware of any food on the island. Is that because of the Maasdam time frames? Some of the pax seem to get ashore by noon at the earliest. If a second ship is at HMC is it ok to eat the food ashore or is this cheating? Help - I'm really confused about what to do in April. The ribs, burgers, etc sound really good to me.

[Orcrone]

Hmmm. Both times I have been on HMC was on a Maasdam cruise. There was a BBQ on the Lido deck of the ship - but I was not aware of any food on the island. Is that because of the Maasdam time frames? Some of the pax seem to get ashore by noon at the earliest. If a second ship is at HMC is it ok to eat the food ashore or is this cheating? Help - I'm really confused about what to do in April. The ribs, burgers, etc sound really good to me.

CrabbyHarper,

 

When we were on the Maasdam in October we had an unusual situation. We were scheduled to be there from 11 - 6 on November 1. We left Norfolk on Oct. 30 before DST ended and just stayed on DST. However, the Oosterdam left port on Sunday Oct. 31, after DST ended. They were scheduled to be at HMC on the same day as us from 8 - 4. Since they arrived first, to avoid confusion, the Maasdam switched off of DST for the time we were on HMC (oh yes, that wasn't confusing). So our 11 - 6 day became a 10 - 5 day. We were on tender #16 and didn't arrive on the island until 1:00 DST (or noon Oosterdam time, arghhh!!!). We arrived during the peak of lunch time and the barbecue was CROWDED!!!!

 

As to your question, you can eat on the ship, eat at HMC and then go back to the ship and eat some more if you wish. The barbecue is for anyone on the island at the time.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I read that post a couple of days about someone who thought the BBQ on HMC was not great.

Sometimes we eat there and other times we have lunch on the ship. Have always enjoyed the BBQ on the island.

Never saw steaks there though.

[gwilli]

About how long after they tender people over to HMC will the lunch begin? We're figuring out what time to book our excursion. Also, how do you know which clam shell one has - and can you "come & go"? Thanks!

 

gwilli

[Orcrone]

About how long after they tender people over to HMC will the lunch begin? We're figuring out what time to book our excursion. Also, how do you know which clam shell one has - and can you "come & go"? Thanks!

 

gwilli

I'm not sure about the time for serving lunch. When I got there it was already being served. For the clamshell you go to the sports hut and someone there will take care of getting you to your clamshell.

[JohnR49er]

Yes there were steaks, and they wern't minute steaks either. They were nice boneless 8-10 ounce steaks. I don't know if it was a one time thing, but it was a pleasant surprise.

We were "sharing" the island with the O-Dam and it was crowded. Tendering was slower because of the one way traffic entering the docking area.

I would like to go there when there is only one ship. I had never been there before when two ships were there and it confirmed my thoughts that it really is set up for one ship at a time.

No complaints about the island or the food. :)

[ekerr19]

I would like to go there when there is only one ship. I had never been there before when two ships were there and it confirmed my thoughts that it really is set up for one ship at a time.

No complaints about the island or the food. :)

 

My understanding is that this is a thing of the past, unfortunately. According to my TA, there will now always be two ships at HMC - one ship would be a very rare occurance. I agree that two ships is one too many!

 

I always loved the HMC BBQ - it is really great considering all the food needs to be brought ashore. Last few stops at HMC it's been the liquor that was in short supply. On the Maasdam they sold "unlimited" Rum Punch cards for $19.99 and ran out of rum punch within the first hour... you'd think they would know how many of those cards they sold... :confused:

[HeatherInFlorida]

Yes, we had steaks, too, and although I was too full on the foods I should never eat to try them, others in our party could not believe how good they were.

 

Sail, I agree with you! I've never seen such a beach picnic feast! But you're also absolutely right that there have been several posts over the past few weeks by people who said things like "don't expect much from the BBQ at HMC", and "there was little offered at lunch at HMC", etc.

 

I thought it was fabulous and you know I don't go overboard talking about the food on HAL. But I sure didn't have any problem with that day!!!

 

This is some page of agreement! When did we last see this:D ?

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have checked our schedules for our back-to-back Westerdam and back-to-back Volendam cruises and so as far as I can tell - we are the only ones scheduled to be there on our dates.

Will recheck the schedule again tonight.

Once before we were there with another ship. They had arrived at 8 AM and we didn't get there till nearly 10. By the time our tender service was set up the beach was already mobbed and the lines for lunch were unbelivable! We opted to stay on the ship that day. Binoculars are great and friends told us about the long lunch lines.

Another time we got there first. We sat at our favorite area but waited to long to get in line for lunch. Horrible - so we went back to the ship for lunch.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Interesting you mention that, KK, because when we were there the Rotterdam was there as well and the beach was MOBBED!

 

I have to admit I have no idea how the lines for lunch were because we were treated to having the cabana boys pick it up for us.

However, they didn't go for it until 1 or 1:15 and there was still plenty. I noticed the beach started to empty by 2:00.

[JohnR49er]

I believe the O-Dam which was there 3 hours before us hauled in all the food. I didn't see the usual loading up of the food containers this last trip.

[sail7seas]

Very often, one ship brings the liquor/drinks and sets up the bars while the other ship brings the food.

[Orcrone]

I believe the O-Dam which was there 3 hours before us hauled in all the food. I didn't see the usual loading up of the food containers this last trip.

John, they were there two hours before us. Remember our little twilight zone on HMC. They arrived at 8:00 AM EDT, and we arrived at 11:00 EST. We then set our clocks back by one hour for our stay, so we arrived at 10:00 EDT.:confused:

[AirGorilla]

We are big fans of the BBQ. I like to go on the first deep sea fishing trip, get back at 10:00 - 10:30, have some drinks, then pig out on the ribs, chicken and burgers! No rabbit food!! After all this, a walk to the far end of the beach is in order!! We love everything about HMC, but have not experienced it with two ships -- sounds like a ZOO that way!!