Half Moon Cay open?

[LakeErieLive]

It was a cold, blustery, but sunny day on the Jan 5 and the Noordam tendered us in. The beach and all the facilities we saw were in great shape. We really enjoyed the day but the beach was hard to sit on due to the wind and cold air, but the lunch was great and we walked the pathways and had a good time. I thought it interesting that the ship did not anchor, but drifted with the props and side thrusters keeping it in a relative position.

[Mpowered]

Did it appear the plantings/flowers were damaged? It took a while for them to fill back in again after hurricane damage and the island looked beautiful in November. I'd hate to hear the bushes/flowers were stripped bare again.

 

Sail, the plants looked fine to me! And so did the chickens. :rolleyes:

 

Joan

[Typhoon1]

And so did the chickens. :rolleyes:

Joan

 

The chickens are always doing fine, making plenty of noise.

[Copper10-8]

We were there the next day and had no problems, but lots of people were talking about your ship's attempts of the previous day. They said the captain tried and tried but just couldn't get there.

 

We saw no evidence of storm damage, but the place seemed a little run-down, in general. We were not especially happy with our shore excursions there, either. I sound like a grump, but I'm not. We still had a fun visit. Next time, though, we'll pay for a cabana and treat it like a day at the beach instead of a port with shore excursions. The beach is beautiful!

 

Joan

 

Thanks! Good to hear you made it in! It all comes down to timing, like most everything else

[ithaca gal]

We sailed on the Zuiderdam on January 2nd and had a port call at HMC on January 3rd. Everything was great except that the cold front had come in and only brave souls entered the water to swim!

[sail7seas]

Sail, the plants looked fine to me! And so did the chickens. :rolleyes:

 

Joan

 

Joan...... thanks. That's wonderful to hear.

We'll (hopefully) be there soon on Eurodam. Totally enjoyed our day there in November.

[mongoose13]

We were at Half Moon Cay yesterday. The beach was beautiful and the weather was sunny. The water was cool and some of the shore excursions were cancelled due to wind. There were two ships in, Eurodam and Nordam, but it was not too crowded. We really enjoyed it.

[Stakeout]

Did it appear the plantings/flowers were damaged? It took a while for them to fill back in again after hurricane damage and the island looked beautiful in November. I'd hate to hear the bushes/flowers were stripped bare again.

 

Sail

 

we were on HMC on 1/7 on our New Years cruise on the Maasdam...didn't stop at HMC on the Christmas cruise... it sure seemed like the flowers and plants 'filled in' a lot since we were there last in late April-early May on the last Maasdam cruise in the Caribbean for the spring.. all the green hedges especially around the picnic table areas in the BBQ section were high and full but well trimmed... it was really nice... clean.. well kept.. ...... and a big plus.. we were the only ship in town that day

 

oh.. and who asked about the chickens.. they are alive and well as you can see on my SmugMug page .. hanging around the BBQ pit... if I were them I think I'd reconsider getting too close to that grill :)

 

also on my SmugMug...for those who like Gulang Gulang--the HAL Goodbye song--it's included in a short 4 minute video on our final nite (HMC) at the Farewell Master Chef's Dinner .. it's the last 'pic' in the gallery

http://stakeout.smugmug.com/Travel/Half-Moon-Cay-Maasdam-Jan-7/10964853_fSUrL/1/766211331_VQfu7

 

[Nowisthetime1]

Thank you for explaining everything so well. You can never please everyone all of the time. We were on the "Eurodam" last June and due to weather had to miss our port to catch the train and go to Berlin. This was too very disappointing, but the captain can not control the weather. The ship has a responsibility to the safety of everyone. To take a chance they would be liable and if someone was hurt, that person would probably be the 1st to sue and say they should not of gone to the island. It is a beautiful island and we were just there in March 2010. Yes, the beach is fine and the buildings, but during high winds or high tide you can not dock and the water does cover the beach. Don't waste your life complaining about what you can not control and enjoy the parts of the cruise that were very enjoyable. Life is way too short, if you have not noticed, to not accept what you can not control. The Captain made the right choice and I am sure he was just as upset as you, as he had to deal with all of the negative vibes from all of those disappointed. :)

 

We were supposed to make a port call at HMC last Saturday, 02 JAN 10, on Westerdam. Btw, cruise ships don't/can't "dock" there - they tender with two HAL-owned large tenders. On approach to the island, Capt. Harris came on the P/A around 0800 to say that things did not look good. There was a strong wind blowing into the beach and there had been a full moon the night before, causing a higher than normal tide. In addition, there were some pretty descent swell waves. The wind plus high tide had caused the beach to be pretty much under water/washed away - in other words, there was not much beach left. The capt, stated that, as a result, all shore excursion involving H2O, had already been cancelled. In addition, the presence of the constant swell would make tendering (getting in and out of them via the ship's tender platform) very uncomfortable, to say the least, especially for the very young, the elderly and the mobility impaired.

 

Capt. Harris continued a slow approach until we were alongside the beach/swimming area, about a mile and a half to two miles out, and about an hour after his first announcement. At this time, the wind had not let up and was still blowing from the same direction, into the beach. (we could see white caps) and the swell was still present. The ship had been in constant contact via radio with the island facilities manager who reported no improvement in the conditions. Taking everything into account, the captain then decided to cancel the HMC port call and make the rest of the day another sea day. The only alternate port of call would have been Nassau but berthing space there was not guaranteed.

 

Disappointing? Sure! There were two couples onboard who were to be maried inside the HMC chappel that day.The right decision? Without a doubt! Btw, the capt. scheduled a Q&A session with himself and the CD inside the Vista Lounge about two hours after making that decision + announcement to cancel. In it, he took flak from pax who just couldn't or wouldn't understand why there was no HMC. In that session, he stated that another HAL ship had no problems getting into HMC the day before, so on New Years Day, and he doubted that other ships would have any problems in the coming days. It just wasn't our day! (second time this has happend to us) HMC is a beautiful place but getting in there, you are at the mercy of the elements (not necessarily bad weather/storms) and you just never know!