Holland America Line Debuts Captain Morgan on the Rocks Island Bar on Its Award-Winni

Not sure if this has been posted yet..

Press Release Source: Holland America Line On Monday February 7, 2011, 5:18 pm

SEATTLE, Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Holland America Line debuted the novel new bar experience, Captain Morgan® on the Rocks Island Bar, with an official grand opening held on Jan. 29 at Half Moon Cay, Holland America's renowned private island in the Bahamas.

Guests on cruises featuring Half Moon Cay now can experience the heritage of Captain Henry Morgan, legendary swashbuckler and scourge of the Spanish Main, at the unique bar. It is designed as a 101-foot-long, twin-decked, three-masted schooner "washed up" on Half Moon Cay's white sand beach. Seating a total 326 guests, the bar decor features nautical artifacts and historic references to Captain Morgan's exploits in these waters more than 350 years ago.

"Half Moon Cay is consistently our top-rated destination in the Caribbean, and Holland America Line is always seeking innovative ways to further enhance this guest experience," said Richard D. Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs. "Captain Morgan on the Rocks adds a fun and charming bar that complements the relaxing beach experience of Half Moon Cay."

Matthew Sams, vice president, Caribbean relations, is responsible for the operations of Half Moon Cay and oversaw the concept, design and construction of the new bar. The construction was performed by island staff. Holland America Line collaborated with Diageo Global Travel & Middle East (GTME), the world's leading premium drinks business that created Captain Morgan® Original Spiced Rum in 1983.

Located near the island's Food Pavilion, Captain Morgan on the Rocks features outdoor seating on two awning-covered, themed decks. The open upper deck offers sweeping vistas of the beach, turquoise ocean and the island interior and lagoon. "Cannons" release gentle mists of water to keep guests cool in the Bahamian sun. The lower deck features rum casks for seats, palm leaf-styled ceiling fans and images "burnt" into the crafted wood telling the story of the legendary Captain Morgan – who plundered a unique spiced rum along with gold and silver in 1668 and then lost everything when his ship went aground on rocks. The ship's band, HAL Cats, performs for guests on a built-in band stand in the aft section of the bar.

Half Moon Cay has been named "Best Private Island" by Porthole Cruise Magazine based on readers' choice for the past 10 years. Holland America Line developed a small area of Half Moon Cay to provide a quintessential and exclusive Caribbean island experience for cruise guests. The 2,400-acre island features 15 beach-front, air-conditioned cabanas, a natural 700-acre lagoon and fun-filled excursions for nature lovers and adventurous travelers alike.

Guests can enjoy activities on the island including horseback riding by land and sea, snorkeling and swimming with stingrays in a secluded cove, biking tours, the AquaTrax watercraft adventure tour and parasailing.

Holland America Line debuted the novel new bar experience, Captain Morgan® on the Rocks Island Bar, with an official grand opening held on Jan. 29 at Half Moon Cay, Holland America's renowned private island in the Bahamas.

Missed the grand opening by one day as I was there on Jan. 28. :mad: :D

Much kvetching on CC about this attraction but IMHO it wasn't the total eyesore I was somewhat expecting. Out of character with the other buildings on HMC fer sure but not as obtrusive as I'd feared based on all the comments here. That is of course just MHO.

There has been a lot of talk about this new bar on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1339588

Here is a link for some pics. First round is on me:

http://www.hollandamericablog.com/2011/01/26/new-captain-morgan-on-the-rocks-island-bar-opens-on-half-moon-cay/

responsible for this development. They will reap either the credit or the blame.

We're calling on HMC in March, and I will keep a weather eye for the effects of the bar. It was under construction in October, and at that point I thought it was to be a playground for kids.

So long as the HAL Cats play quietly, it may be okay. If they turn up loud, blaring amplifiers, it will definitely be a disaster. I'll be trying to keep an open mind (and perhaps an open bar tab as well).

Rum drink, Mon?

We've seen the construction on two HAL cruises this fall/winter but will not see the completed project until our upcoming Noordam cruise.

I can't say we much care about it either way as long as they music doesn't blast us off the beach.

We hope the noise doesn't destroy our enjoyment of the 'slice of Paradise'.

We'll see soon. ;)

Hopefully we can take our 6 grandkids in there!!!!

Loved it. We were just there on the NA last week and I think that it is a definite complement.

We've seen the construction on two HAL cruises this fall/winter but will not see the completed project until our upcoming Noordam cruise.

 

I can't say we much care about it either way as long as they music doesn't blast us off the beach.

 

We hope the noise doesn't destroy our enjoyment of the 'slice of Paradise'.

 

We'll see soon. ;)

We were there for the opening on the 29th, Sail. Visited with friends in the eggshell cabana for a while, and didn't hear any music...so if they were playing, it wasn't that loud. Walked by on the way to the food pavilion on the way back to the ship, snapped a couple photos (neither of which are very good).

It's somewhat of an eyesore but I don't think it will interfere with the tranquility of the beach.

There ws a small red & white helicopter on the helipad so I assume someone from Seattle was there for the opening.

Does anyone know if you can use your prepaid drink card at the bar?

Does anyone know if you can use your prepaid drink card at the bar?

Yes. And there was a $29 all-inclusive drink offer available for the visit to HMC last week.

Is the $29 all-inclusive for that day only? Is it per person? Any chance of sharing drinks??

(Been trying to find info on Beverage cards on the HAL website & totally frustrated by their search function....got any ideas where to find info)

We also were at HMC for the formal opening; there were two ships on-site, the Maasdam and the Noordam. Probably due to the grand opening, but there appeared to be quite a lot of traffic in that area, but as 'Innkeeper' (Sheila) stated ------ the music wasn't overly loud!

I believe that it might get a bit more raucous if you were sharing the island with a large Carnival ship, but otherwise it is quite tolerable!

YAWN

Gramps

Does anyone know if you can use your prepaid drink card at the bar?

Not when I was there on 28th Jan. you couldn't as they wrote everything up by hand and gave you the little pink customer copy whicn you had to sign. I remember asking why the couldn't take my beverage card and they replied their point of sale locations weren't set up for it. Has that changed in the past few weeks?

If you want the $29 all you can drink card, both people in your cabin have to purchase a card. They will print out a special photo id card that you use at the bars on the island. They will also mark on a list whenever you get a drink. If you are one the island for the 'whole' day and you have one drink/hour(as if!) you will get your moneys worth.