Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island) Port Q&A
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18 Answers
Carnival frowns if you jump ship in to the beautiful Caribbean Ocean, wait for a tender to take you ashore and then walk to a beautiful beach.
Answered by okhappy493 on July 20, 2022
It is nice to rent a clamshell for shade if you think you’ll need it. If you prefer to walk on solid ground when you get to the plaza keep going and you’ll see where the lunch area and restrooms are, you can cut through to the beach there. I’m sure there are a couple other places too. Make sure you go to top of the pirate ship bar to get great pics of the cruise ship! Also if you enjoy the Fun Squad activities they happen down there.
Answered by ElizabethOregon on July 20, 2022
We were there two weeks ago and that’s exactly what we did. No excursions needed
Answered by CollinsCruise on July 20, 2022
We were there in December. We rented a half shell. It was very affordable for two. Even if you don't spend a penny there, you'll love it. I have been there 4 times. It is my favorite beach in the world.
Answered by cruiseme13 on July 19, 2022
walk as far down as you can. past the crowds and music. bring your own inflatable floats and ideally a folding beach shade and it will be paradise.
Answered by cbyron3 on July 19, 2022
Half Moon Cay is a tender port so you can't just "walk off" the ship. But you can use the tender to go back and forth from the ship to the island at your leisure. No excursion or planned activities necessary.
Answered by J60406 on July 18, 2022
Just take the tender to the island and find a spot on the beach to relax. Don't forget they provide lunch on the island as well.
Answered by J60406 on July 18, 2022
HMC has a great beach with a lot of room on either side of the dock from which the tenders dock. No need to spend a dime.
Answered by jeffreyschill on July 18, 2022
You take a smaller tender boat to the island. You can choose how close you want to be the crowd and how far you want to walk down the beach away from the crowds. Half Moon Cay is our favorite place. We chose most of our cruises based on visiting this location. We enjoy being further away from the crowds where it has more of a private island feel. We treated ourselves to a cabana on our recent May Anniversary & Birthday cruise. We chose cabana 15 as soon as we boarded as it was the furthest from the crowds. It was very enjoyable but at the top edge of our budget at $359. It would be a better value if split between four people. It has now increased to $449 so it will probably have to remain a great memory for us. We will still enjoy walking just past cabana 15 and staying in the shaded area on lounge chairs.
Answered by Ramsey1986 on July 21, 2022
If you decide to rent a cabana there is a truck tram that takes you to and from your cabana and saves you the walking. You also get to leave on the first tender boat and arrive on the island first before the crowds while the beach is pretty much empty.
Answered by Ramsey1986 on July 21, 2022
If you rent a cabana be sure that you go to guest services onboard to be assigned one. Higher the number I believe, the longer the walk. I have found getting off as soon as you can is the best plan. I dawdled one cruise and had to walk 15 minutes to be able to find available clamshell (and they are not free) and it was uncomfortable, on a hill and impossible to move it. I had a foot injury and it was a long walk! Walking back in the water was much better - lesson learned!
Answered by kelskazoo22 on July 21, 2022
you cannot "just walk off the ship" you must take a tender but the beach is right there.
Answered by teamtc2015 on July 20, 2022
I am no expert, having only 3 cruises under my belt... but HMC is our favorite stop in the Caribbean !!!
Answered by mn2ca2colove12 on August 03, 2022
100% we have been 3xs this year booked for October but sadly going to princess Kay instead
Answered by thenewunity on August 04, 2022
Yes! That’s what we did on our cruise in December 2021. You can have a very nice time without booking an excursion
Answered by RonFarris on August 05, 2022