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I'm so over Half Moon Cay!

Slarty

By Slarty,
in Holland America Line

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sjn911

sjn911

Posted
Posted
Half Moon Cay is a really, really nice private island. It's consistently rated at or near the top of all cruise line islands. We live, quite literally, on the nicest, widest, most private part of Fort Lauderdale Beach and we still like HMC. I'm not sure how jaded you have to be to get annoyed at the pirate ship. You might be veering into "Princess and the Pea" territory. :)

Thank you..it is on my to do list and so looked forward to as a safe beach walk swim and enjoy low key place..I mean it is not a zillion houses or hotels...

Obviously just found this thread.

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Aquahound

Aquahound

Posted
Posted
Thank you..it is on my to do list and so looked forward to as a safe beach walk swim and enjoy low key place..I mean it is not a zillion houses or hotels...

Obviously just found this thread.

 

You're going to love it. HMC is one of the several reasons I booked my last HAL cruise. At the time, it was the only remaining private island I had not visited. There's not much to it....the bbq is private island standard, it certainly isn't Labadee with the roller coaster or Princess Cays with the ability to leave the compound and explore a local community. What it is....is the best beach of all the private islands of all the major cruise lines.

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sjn911

sjn911

Posted
Posted
You're going to love it. HMC is one of the several reasons I booked my last HAL cruise. At the time, it was the only remaining private island I had not visited. There's not much to it....the bbq is private island standard, it certainly isn't Labadee with the roller coaster or Princess Cays with the ability to leave the compound and explore a local community. What it is....is the best beach of all the private islands of all the major cruise lines.

 

Thanks so much. Obviously, to each his own, and I understand fatigue, changing preferences or any human condition.

 

But the idea of an easy to get to destination of a beach where I can have a chair and find a little shade..use the old SPF to the max and probably a swim shirt as I am pretty fair...and then have a rest on ship afterwords and late dinner...what a day!!! It feels in a way like the dream of any amazing warm and often calmer ocean beach...I love the water...river, lake and ocean...and resting there is rare in comparison often to other parts of our lives.

 

Sarah

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PopsicleWalrus

PopsicleWalrus

Posted
Posted

Loved HMC. The Westerdam was the only ship in and if you were willing to walk a few feet the beach was very quiet and empty. Enjoyed hiking around the island, often would spend 10-15 minutes not seeing another person.

 

Buffet was better than expected, although the lines were a bit slow and long. Probably one of the better stops on our trip this time around.

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iancal

iancal

Posted
Posted

Not certain why anyone would moan about HMC. We prefer to stay on board. We have that option.

 

We consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate simply to be on a nice cruise ship and have the option of going ashore to the beach or having a quiet pool day.

 

We certainly have no issue with HAL stopping here. And even if we did there are lots of other itinerary choices.

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RedneckBob

RedneckBob

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How could you HAL !

 

Scheduled the Nieuw Amsterdam and Koningsdam the same day at HMC; 11/14/16.

 

I guess I get to explore the new ship on that day.

 

Hi y'all, RedneckBob hear !

 

Another way to put it is, let's pretend it's The Tonight Show with Jimy Fallon, it's Friday night, opening the show and Jimy is writing Thank You cards that he forgot to write during the week. (If you never seen this, skip the rest of this cause you wont understand it)

 

"Thank you Holland America Line for scheduling two of your largest ships at the tropical/paradise of Half Moon Cay at the same time,

 

so that it will feel like we never left Home :eek: !"

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OVgirl

OVgirl

Posted
Posted
How could you HAL !

 

Scheduled the Nieuw Amsterdam and Koningsdam the same day at HMC; 11/14/16.

 

I guess I get to explore the new ship on that day.

 

They've done the same thing on our cruise! Both ships at HMC on 2/20/17!

Guess we better get off the ship as soon as possible.

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G&G

G&G

Posted
Posted
They've done the same thing on our cruise! Both ships at HMC on 2/20/17!

Guess we better get off the ship as soon as possible.

 

Sounds like a good plan.

 

Several years ago we were at HMC with two ships. It was so crowded. How crowded was it ?

 

A single lady sat at the end of our lounge chair (with clamshell) to stay out of the sun. Never asked if it was ok and we could not get her to move. She apparently thought nothing wrong to what she did.

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Lizzie68

Lizzie68

Posted
Posted
They've done the same thing on our cruise! Both ships at HMC on 2/20/17!

Guess we better get off the ship as soon as possible.

 

Oh my!:eek: I've only ever been there with one ship in port. I cannot even begin imagine how busy it would be with both of those, given the number of passengers on each. I think I would opt to stay onboard.;)

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G&G

G&G

Posted
Posted (edited)
Lizzie68, can I ask how you found out that two ships were going to be at HMC on the same day? I would love to check is any other ships will be there the day we are docked.

 

Hi, I am G&G.

 

If you go to any TA internet site that you can book a cruise on your own,

 

Just type the month/year to travel. Select HAL as your cruise line, and Caribbean as destination. All Hal cruises for the month will appear and just review each cruise to see if multiple ships are in the port.

 

Or go to cruisetimetables.com, find destination as Half Moon Cay under Bahama, click, takes you to calendar and click on date of you ships arrival to see if other ships are there.

Edited by G&G
Need to add info
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Murray's Pop Great Review Rare

Murray's Pop

Posted
Posted

Count us with those who love HMC. Its the high point on any of our Carib cruises. We have been fortunate to have never missed it due to weather. Always have cabana #3 (turquoise) or Oasis with a bunch of friends. Cant wait to return.

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  • 9 months later...
oliver1821

oliver1821

Posted
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And still love the beaches of HMC. The water in the islands are so much clearer than Florida. Not complaining mind you!

 

Do not care for the BBQ on HMC, always go back to the ship for lunch and then return to our Cabana, very reasonable too.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted (edited)

File me under stupid - we had a fabulous stop at HMC last November - it was so good we booked a lazy Caribbean just to be in warm water again - we did not want to get out of the water on that last stop. Previous times the water had been too cold for my tastes to bother with, so I too had my reservations about the overall appeal of HMC.

 

Now our next jaunt this way and down to the ABC islands will in late January which will be well into winter (duh?)- just looked at the water temperature charts and see this it will be around 10 degrees colder than our recent last stop in early November at HMC. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

 

So for those wondering what the appeal is for HMC, late summer up through Nov is when the water is at its best (up to 84 degrees). I am now not expecting much on this reprise trip. :( We Southern Californians get dumb about seasons - they all kind of blend into each other out here.

Edited by OlsSalt
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MaxThrusters

MaxThrusters

Posted
Posted

I'm at HMC next week. Last time I skipped it, and stayed aboard; the time before we had a cabana with butler upgrade which was delightful.

 

This time around, I plan on taking that tram tour around the island then walking over to the stingray area to have a look from outside. A walk on the beach, a drink in the pirate ship bar, and the bbq lunch are likely.

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