HAL's private island - Half Moon Cay

[wgeddings]

Excerpt from full review

For full review, check out http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=5225585#post5225585

Nov 19-26, 2005 – Zuiderdam – Ft. Lauderdale to Eastern Caribbean

First, let me say that there were 4 of us. Me (42 yr old lawyer), Jane (my wife and a teacher), Mary (daughter age 15) and Will (son age 13). We went on a Carnival cruise 19 years ago but more recently went on a Disney cruise 2 years ago and a Carnival cruise (Inspiration out of Tampa for 7 days to Western Caribbean) a year ago. As I talk about things, I will often compare Disney and Carnival to the HAL experience. For those unused to some abbreviations, DD is Darling Daughter, DS is Darling Son and DW is Darling Wife (DH is Darling Husband but thankfully I do not have one of those!). I will refer to each day’s events at the end of the evening so some of my observations may be countered later in the review as we learn or see more. Hopefully you will read the whole thing.

Sunday – November 20, 2005 – Half Moon Cay

After a night of good sleep to the rocking of the boat, we arrived at Half Moon Cay. We had ordered room service and it arrived promptly and correct. Once again, the food was satisfactory. After we got ready to go ashore, we headed to the Lido buffet to get the rest of breakfast and it was going well there too. Beautiful day with a clear blue sky, temperature of 82 degrees and water temp of 86 degrees according to the display on the ship. The tender to shore was fine and organized.

When we arrived, we wanted to make arrangements for my daughter to parasail. There was some confusion with no one being at the shore excursion desk on shore and then a local at the information booth lady acting as if it was our fault the desk was unmanned but it got sorted out and reservation made. We went snorkeling to try our new equipment and get some practice before St. Thomas and Virgin Gorda. Although there were no unusual fish to see, there were some fish and the bottom and surrounding were exactly what we wanted – a chance to practice snorkeling and get used to it. It went well and we were all much more confident. We then caught the shuttle to the “island BBQ” for BBQ chicken, BBQ pork ribs, hamburgers and hot dogs. The food was better than I expected it to be. Drink cards are not valid for sodas on Half Moon Cay.

My son then went kayaking and my daughter got ready for her parasail. She was the only one going to be on the boat so they agreed to let me ride and cheer her on. I wanted to do it too but the weight limit, according to the excursion list, was 275 and I tip the scales at 290 so I did not go. However, the reason I mention it is that the guys on the boat told me that they could have accommodated me since the rig is rated for more than 400 pounds. I had to wear a life preserver while on the boat anyway so I know they have equipment more than big enough. So if you want to do it and are worried about weight restrictions, don’t give up on it. Anyway, DD had a blast and truly loved it. DS enjoyed the kayaking and we all came back to the ship quite exhausted. I saw, from a distance, the cabanas and heard others who used them enjoyed them.

Overall, Half Moon Cay was very much like Disney’s Castaway Cay. It is a nice place to stop for some excursion activities or to just play on the beach but if you want to shop or experience local culture, you should not have expected to find those on a private island anyway. I also noted that the employees there (who told me that they are mostly HAL employees who live on neighboring islands and come in when a ship arrives) were not very nice and almost rude. For example, my DW and DD went up to a shore excursion booth later in the day. There were no less than 5 staff people in it and no customer there. The 5 in the booth were laughing and joking as each read my DD’s shirt so I know they saw DW and DD. Finally, after standing there for awhile, my wife “ahemed” and asked if they could get some help. With a heavy sigh, the people argued among themselves over who would have to “take it” and then finally one stepped up and asked what they wanted. This type of conduct is not acceptable in my opinion and is not indicative of how the crew on the ship behaved. I hope HAL will seriously look into the conduct of their employees on HMC and encourage some improvement. There is a lot of room for it!

[SeaBands]

After a night of rocking and rolling we arrived at HMC. It turned out to be pretty much the same as the other cruise line islands. The paths were a little nicer, food much the same and very limited choices in the bars. They were pushing frozen daqueries of varying flavors so I guess the quality of the rum didn't matter and the gin and vodka were Gilbeys, not my first choice.Shopping was more limited than the Princess island. We went back aboard for a good drink quite early. The beach was pure sand and no fish.