New to HAL-Half Moon Cay questions

So I've already searched and posted on the Private Islands board and gotten nothing but crickets chirping.

-Is the ice cream cart an extra charge or is it included?

-Which restaurants on board the ship are open on HMC day?

-How do you get to the ruins?

-How many people do they allow on the Hobie cats vs. the sailboats?

-The playground is called "Club HAL," but it it staffed/supervised? Can you drop kids off like at Disney's Castaway Cay?

Thanks!

The MDR will not be open for lunch on a port day. The buffet and other venues will be open for lunch. I've never seen an ice cream cart, but my last few visits were on Carnival. Ruins? Are there ruins on HMC? EM

To my knowledge there are no ruins at Half Moon Cay, never saw ice cream there or a cart, I have only seen 1 person on the jet skis but ask maybe there can be 2.

I don't know about supervision at the playground but I will say there aren't a lot of kids who sail HAL, depending upon the time of year you sail, definitely not as many as Disney.

HMC is really a beautiful island and a great beach day. Hope this helped you a bit.

Have never seen an ice cream cart.

No ruins on HMC.

The main dining room and Pinnacle Grill will be closed for lunch.

It is up to you to supervise your children. The people who work Club HAL are in charge of the land games with the children.

I think only once out of 5 or 6 times that we've been by the playground did we see any kids there, and there was no adult supervision. The ones we saw were teen boys.

I am not sure the section of the beach that used to contain Club HAL has been reopened.

We were there in March and that end of the beach was closed because of hurricane damage.

If someone rented the large Villa that sits out on the end of the tender channel, they could only get to it by walking along the service road that runs along the tender channel.

I've visited the ruins as part of the Historic Nature Hike.

Roz

According to a history of Half Moon Cay and it's development by Holland America that I found, there is the remnants of a 17th century dwelling that can be visited on a ship's nature hike excursion.

With all the damage that HMC has suffered over the last few years from hurricanes, the dwelling may no longer exist.

Yes, there are "ruins" on HMC - they are in the center of the island if you take the paths into the vegetation area beyond the seaside activity areas and up a slight hill. They are simply stone foundations of a former building. Worth the small hike -about 15-20 minutes.

So I've already searched and posted on the Private Islands board and gotten nothing but crickets chirping.

-Is the ice cream cart an extra charge or is it included?

-Which restaurants on board the ship are open on HMC day?

-How do you get to the ruins?

-How many people do they allow on the Hobie cats vs. the sailboats?

-The playground is called "Club HAL," but it it staffed/supervised? Can you drop kids off like at Disney's Castaway Cay?

Thanks![/quote

We were at Half Moon Cay last November, there was an ice cream station in the area of the buffet, ice cream was no charge, gave you one scoop only, if you want more, have to get two servings.

Thanks for all the info!

Re Club HAL: It seems like they should just call it "Pirate's Cove" or even "the playground" vs. giving it the same name as the drop-off club on the ship.

I would love to hear from anyone who's rented the Hobies and/or sailboats re capacity.

We were at Half Moon Cay last November, there was an ice cream station in the area of the buffet, ice cream was no charge, gave you one scoop only, if you want more, have to get two servings.

We were there in early May and there was definitely an ice cream cart in the buffet area free of charge. They only offered vanilla ice cream. You could put a little pump of a "rum sauce" (I'm dubious) if you so desired. And I agree that they only offered one scoop.

Beautiful beach and I loved the chickens!

We were at Half Moon Cay last November, there was an ice cream station in the area of the buffet, ice cream was no charge, gave you one scoop only, if you want more, have to get two servings.

Same in March this year. It might have been a cart, but it was stationary. Very popular with the kids.

I am not sure the section of the beach that used to contain Club HAL has been reopened.

 

We were there in March and that end of the beach was closed because of hurricane damage.

That's odd. I was there in November and there was no damage and no closures anywhere along the beach.

Are you sure?

The first walkway that led out to the beach was roped off (the end of the stairs were dangling in the air due to the beach erosion from the storms).

The end of the beach that used to contain Club HAL and the slides and other equipment was roped off. The slides were gone and the beach that remained was not open for use.

The large party villa that sits out on the jetty of the tender channel could only be accessed by walking along the service road next to the tender channel. The beach that used to allow access to the villa was gone.

Glad to hear that the ice cream is included. Is there still the ice cream "parlor" that I've seen on maps near the entrance/welcome center? If so, am I correct in assuming that it is an additional charge?

;)

Glad to hear that the ice cream is included. Is there still the ice cream "parlor" that I've seen on maps near the entrance/welcome center? If so, am I correct in assuming that it is an additional charge?

You got me on that one, I don’t remember seeing that, but of course could be there, I only remember buffet area stand.

Homosassa mentioned significant damage that they noticed in March. Has anyone been there more recently and is it repaired?