Review of Half Moon Cay (cabana video & pics etc)

[bustibob]

Thanks for the excellent review! Looking forward to HMC!

[gborra2004]

I agree with Typhoon 1. HOpefully you have secured your cabana already (ON LINE) and when you do the "ding ding" machine as you embark, it will stop you and you can go right to the excursions desk and pick it out! Only 2 ppl got theirs before I got mine... I got my pick. It pays to get to the port early so you can reserve the cabana you really want (or have a couple in mind).

 

As far as what to do on the island, be prepared to want to stay forever. Use the snorkels and the rafts. Lay out in the sun, have a delicious lunch... stay as long as you can. It really is everything people have said it is/was.

 

ENJOY. I can't wait to get back there again someday...

 

 

 

Ok Cabana is reserved. Now the question is do I pick out my cabana # as soon as I board the ship in NYC or do I wait till I get to the Island??? Also does anyone know where the new Capt Morgan Pirate Ship bar is located as far as @which cabana? I like the music but don't think we wanna be right on top of the BAR scene. :)

 

So EXCITED

[CruiserBruce]

You pick your cabana as soon as you board the ship. Otherwise you will get whatever is leftover after everyone picks theirs as they board.

 

If you did any reading, you would see pics of the Bar, and see that it is between #5 and #6.

Edited July 9, 2012 by CruiserBruce

[Irishlinny]

Ok Cabana is reserved. Now the question is do I pick out my cabana # as soon as I board the ship in NYC or do I wait till I get to the Island??? Also does anyone know where the new Capt Morgan Pirate Ship bar is located as far as @which cabana? I like the music but don't think we wanna be right on top of the BAR scene. :)

 

So EXCITED

I see your question was answered, but the music at the bar isn't ALWAYS loud...it was fine the day we were there, but I have heard stories of times it was really loud, so you would be smart to pick maybe # 8 or so. The closer you get to #1, the more crowded the beach is near you.

You pick your cabana as soon as you board the ship. Otherwise you will get whatever is leftover after everyone picks theirs as they board.

 

If you did any reading, you would see pics of the Bar, and see that it is between #5 and #6.

That's a bit rude...some people don't have time to read through a thread that is 13 pages long....play nice!:rolleyes:

[Typhoon1]

I see your question was answered, but the music at the bar isn't ALWAYS loud...it was fine the day we were there,

 

The bar was open on our last visit. We were in Cabana #6. There was no music.

 

If you're lucky. You might get a day without music.

[Pellaz]

Ok Cabana is reserved. Now the question is do I pick out my cabana # as soon as I board the ship in NYC or do I wait till I get to the Island???

 

If you're on CCL, you can apparently now email the Shore Excursions dept. at shoreexcursions@carnival.com after you've reserved your cabana online and, if the Fates smile upon you, you can request a particular cabana by number. They'll need your booking number, etc. Otherwise, as people said, it's first-come-first-serve at the Guest Relations landrush on the ship. :eek:

 

See the "All Things Half Moon Cay" thread in this very forum for details. (It -did- work for me.:) )

[purplekisses]

I sent an email off to the shore excursion department and hopefully the fates will smile upon me. I have had a cabana booked for several months and was trying to figure out how to return the rental car, shuttle to the port from the airport and still get there in time to pick a good one without getting up at 5am. Thanks for the tip.

[gborra2004]

Thanks for all the help. Most of it has been helpful and YES I have done plenty of reading THANK U:)

[gborra2004]

Hi all. My family and I booked a cruise on Carnival Fascination about 6 weeks ago so I’d been lurking on the boards ever since. I found the info on here invaluable especially the info on Half Moon Cay, particularly info on renting a cabana. I figured I would post my review and hopefully it will help others out too. Please pardon me if I ramble on, I happen to be very longwinded;)

 

For background info it was myself, my husband (both in our early 30’s), our 19 month old baby, my mother and my two little sisters (14 and 10yo). We sailed out of Jacksonville and arrived on HMC on April 19th 2010. I had been very nervous b/c there had been a lot of reports on CC that Fascination had missed HMC quite a few times. And after reading the boards and finding out about cabanas I was even more nervous that I wouldn’t be lucky enough to reserve one. Everything worked out and we made it to HMC and were able to rent a cabana (#10) and had a GREAT time on what must be one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen!!! We ended up taking a tender over around 1045am and left on the 2nd to last tender back to the ship around 515pm or so.

 

Video of Cabana #10

 

 

Booking the Cabana: We got on the ship around 1pm (I believe boarding started at 12 but I honestly do not remember). As soon as we were on I walked right over to the Excursions desk (no line at all) and asked if there were any cabanas left. The woman smiled and said “yes”. I asked her if I could choose the one I wanted and she again said “yes”. She had a clip board and showed me which were still left (the clipboard lists them by number), so far only about 5 or 6 cabanas had been booked. I was looking for one that would be a little quieter and further down the beach so I chose #10. The total cost of the Cabana came to $225. I was asked to choose what kind of soda we wanted (it came with 8 cans). Also was asked for our shoe size (cabana also comes with four sets of snorkeling equipment). So booking it was quite simple.

 

Getting to Cabana once on HMC: As soon as we got off the tender we walked over to the Excursions desk. It was only about a 1minute walk, if that. I showed the woman my excursion ticket and asked if we needed to walk to the Cabana or if someone would take us. She said they had a vehicle that drops people off so we walked right over (10 second walk away from excursion desk) and they had a huge open air type of truck that took us over, there was another couple on the truck as well. It led us through the back paved road and dropped us right off behind out cabana.

 

What is included in Cabana: The cabana came with 4 sets of snorkeling equipment (each set included flippers mask and blow up vest), a misting fan, 4 beach towels, an air conditioner, a small refrigerator, 3 blue floating mats for the water (I think it was supposed to have 4 but ours only had 3), 2 cushioned and very comfortable lounge chairs, an outside shower, a small table with four wicker chairs, a large cooler filled with ice, 4 bottles of water, 8 cans of soda, an ashtray. It also had a nice spread of snacks which included a tray of sliced fruit (watermelon, pineapple, cantelope and honeydew melon), a tray of veggies, 8 oranges, a bag of Tostitos, guacamole, salsa, veggie dip and sour cream. The back of the cabana is also lined with a huge countertop which has a ton of closed storage space where you can store your stuff and feel a bit more secure if you are in the water or step away from the cabana (it does not lock but at least your stuff would be out of sight). The fridge is also under this counter. I’ve read it asked here before and, no, they did not come around and replenish our snacks but it was enough for us to snack on throughout the day. There was also a hammock in between our cabana and the one next to ours that I believe is free for anyone to use however we did not see anyone using it throughout the day.

Thank you so much for all the information you have given me, all of us. I am happy to say I just got my confirmation Email this morning for Cabana #10. Can't wait to go

[carly chloe]

I e-mailed and called and you can no longer pick your cabana ahead of time on Carnival. The rep said they were not suppose to be doing and put a stop to that right away. You are lucky if you got away with it before they knew they were letting people. :(

[Typhoon1]

I e-mailed and called and you can no longer pick your cabana ahead of time on Carnival. The rep said they were not suppose to be doing and put a stop to that right away. You are lucky if you got away with it before they knew they were letting people. :(

 

Just as I predicted. I am sure they were getting deluged with email, and didn't have the staff to cope with it.

[gborra2004]

I e-mailed and called and you can no longer pick your cabana ahead of time on Carnival. The rep said they were not suppose to be doing and put a stop to that right away. You are lucky if you got away with it before they knew they were letting people. :(

 

 

Wow sorry about that. I guess I got in just under the wire. Hope you get in the area you want. Enjoy and let us know how it was

[georgia cruiser 1974]

So I have a question: does anyone know if you can buy a bottle of liquor from the bar on HMC to have in the cabanas? We usually get one delivered from Bon Voyage for on the ship and actually had to get another delivered from room service on our last cruise. Just don't know if this applies here since it is a private island.

[Typhoon1]

Most policies that apply on the ship also will apply on HMC. It is merely an extension of the ship.

 

Call the front desk, and have them deliver it to your cabana.

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Most policies that apply on the ship also will apply on HMC. It is merely an extension of the ship.

 

Call the front desk, and have them deliver it to your cabana.

 

Aren't drinks included in the cabana rental? I'm pretty sure they are (maybe not bottles of wine, though).

 

 

PeaceLoveCruise

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Whoops! I'm wrong. Unlimited drinks WITH the Butler package!!

 

 

PeaceLoveCruise

[Typhoon1]

Aren't drinks included in the cabana rental?

 

PeaceLoveCruise

 

Just wishful thinking on your part.

[deno75]

I am so excited to have been able to have rented a cabana for our trip in 21 days in HMC, we booked late and from day one of us booking they were sold out, I checked back every day since we booked in the beginning of July and today there was one!!!! So glad people said to keep checking in case of cancellations

 

 

So we are fairly new to cruising, this will be our 3rd, and first with carnival. I have seen where you can not reserve until you board and I know we would like one between 10-15

 

What time do you need to get to the ship to be sure to get one of the first reservations for cabanas??? Our embarkation hours says 12:30, we have a suite so we can do VIP check in. I just want to be there and be ready to get the best selection. Thanks much, nice when you can ask more veteran cruisers questions.

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Just wishful thinking on your part.

 

Indeed!!

 

 

PeaceLoveCruise

[PeaceLoveCruise]

I am so excited to have been able to have rented a cabana for our trip in 21 days in HMC, we booked late and from day one of us booking they were sold out, I checked back every day since we booked in the beginning of July and today there was one!!!! So glad people said to keep checking in case of cancellations

 

 

So we are fairly new to cruising, this will be our 3rd, and first with carnival. I have seen where you can not reserve until you board and I know we would like one between 10-15

 

What time do you need to get to the ship to be sure to get one of the first reservations for cabanas??? Our embarkation hours says 12:30, we have a suite so we can do VIP check in. I just want to be there and be ready to get the best selection. Thanks much, nice when you can ask more veteran cruisers questions.

 

Congrats on your Cabana Snag!!! Which one are you trying to get?

 

 

PeaceLoveCruise

[Typhoon1]

What time do you need to get to the ship to be sure to get one of the first reservations for cabanas??? Our embarkation hours says 12:30, we have a suite so we can do VIP check in. I just want to be there and be ready to get the best selection. Thanks much, nice when you can ask more veteran cruisers questions.

 

Boarding normally begins in the 11-11:30 time frame.

[girlscruise2011]

I am so excited to have been able to have rented a cabana for our trip in 21 days in HMC, we booked late and from day one of us booking they were sold out, I checked back every day since we booked in the beginning of July and today there was one!!!! So glad people said to keep checking in case of cancellations

 

 

So we are fairly new to cruising, this will be our 3rd, and first with carnival. I have seen where you can not reserve until you board and I know we would like one between 10-15

 

What time do you need to get to the ship to be sure to get one of the first reservations for cabanas??? Our embarkation hours says 12:30, we have a suite so we can do VIP check in. I just want to be there and be ready to get the best selection. Thanks much, nice when you can ask more veteran cruisers questions.

 

I had a cabana for my May Destiny Cruise and wanted #11. I was at the port at 10:30am and had Zone 4. We were on the ship by 11:30am and went right to the excursion desks and was the first there :)

 

Since you are VIP boarding, I would get to the port early (10:30ish) to be one of the first on the ship and head right to the desk. The cabanas are first come first serve, so being one of the first ones on you should be able to get you choice. That is unless some of the ones that have them reserved were some of the lucky ones that were able to get their cabana number reserved through email as some previously posted.

 

Good luck. I enjoyed #11 but they are not that far apart so anyone from #10-#15 would be great!

[Typhoon1]

Good luck. I enjoyed #11 but they are not that far apart so anyone from #10-#15 would be great!

 

If you're looking for more seclusion and fewer people, ten or above will suit your needs just fine.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Typhoon1

[deno75]

Congrats on your Cabana Snag!!! Which one are you trying to get?

 

 

PeaceLoveCruise

 

Thanks, I was thinking is this too good to be true? We are hoping on one from 10-15

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Thanks, I was thinking is this too good to be true? We are hoping on one from 10-15

 

I love 15!!!

 

 

PeaceLoveCruise