What I Learned Visiting Carnival Cruise Line’s Private Island, Half Moon Cay…
Carnival Cruise Line owns a beautiful island in the Bahamas called Half Moon Cay! I was blessed to get to visit this island during a cruise I took with my family on the Carnival Dream. This stop on our trip turned out to be my favorite and I look forward to sharing more about my experience with you…
When you port at Half Moon Cay, you will actually dock out at sea. Because of this you will have to take a water shuttle over to the island. When we visited this port, they informed the cruise passengers that we had to go grab tickets for the shuttle from a specific location on the ship. The line to get these tickets can be pretty long so you will want to give yourself plenty of time before disembarking. People who had excursions booked were not required to grab shuttle tickets because their excursion tickets acted as their shuttle tickets. We were pleased to find out that “buying an umbrella” counted as an excursion as well. And as an added bonus, people who had booked an excursion were allowed to get off the boat first. That umbrella rental helped us out in more ways than one!
The water shuttle is an interesting experience in and of itself. When you are first disembarking from the ship, the workers want to get as many people on the shuttle as they can. It got a little crowded! If you prefer to have a little more space, I might suggest waiting and disembarking after a big portion of the guests have gotten off. While still crowded, the return trip to the boat wasn’t quite as bad (we did leave the island with plenty of time to spare though). I would also recommend you head back to the boat an hour or two before you have to as the lines to get back on the water shuttles can get pretty long.
While getting on and riding the shuttle can be an interesting experience. The views on the water are so pretty. Take the time to look around, snap a few photos and take a video or two to remember your trip. You can also take this opportunity to chat with fellow cruisers seated around you.
Before you enjoy your day at the beach, you will want to decide if you want to rent an umbrella or another form of shade. While not a requirement, your skin will be thanking you at the end of the day! There are many different options including cabanas, umbrellas and clamshells. One note I want to make about the clamshells are that they comfortably fit two people sitting in lounge chairs. They may also sell out quickly so you will want to reserve yours plenty of time in advance. When my family went on the app to book a clamshell we were too late and they were already sold out, so we opted instead for an umbrella. This turned out to be a great decision for us. We didn’t realize that with three of us, a clamshell would have only allowed two of us to be in the shade at any given time if we were using lounge chairs. On the other hand though when we set up the umbrella, we were able to position it so that it shaded all three of the lounge chairs we were using. One thing I would recommend is watching a YouTube tutorial video like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esZ9r80BL_A before you go to help learn how to set up the base of the umbrella. While the umbrella comes with instructions, having prior knowledge of how to set it up can help the process go quicker and easier.
There are two locations where you can pick up your umbrella once you get on the island. One is closer to the entrance and the other is further down the beach. When we went to Half Moon Cay, we decided to walk a bit further to the second stand allowing us to set it up by lounge chairs in an area where we felt it wasn’t quite as crowded. It was easy to pick up our umbrella using the ticket given to us by the cruise line and then set it up and enjoy our day. We were able to set up closer to the water which was nice as well. We noticed that all of the clamshells were located near the back of the beach so it was nice we could set up a little closer.
For your day at the beach you may also want bring a few things with you. First is a towel. While we brought our own towels from home, we noticed that a lot of people brought towels from their rooms. If you want to bring a towel with you from the ship, I would just recommend you make sure and bring it back with you when you return. You may also want to bring hand sanitizer and/or wipes with you so you have a way to clean your hands without having to walk to the bathroom each time. Also, don’t forget to bring your sunscreen or sunblock so you can apply it throughout the day!
Your trip to the beach also includes a free buffet style lunch provided by Carnival. My family and I were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed our meal. With a wide variety of foods, there appeared to be something for everyone. There are tables around the buffet area where you can sit and eat or you can do what my family did and take your food back to your lounge chair to enjoy the view of the beach while you eat.
Besides lunch, there are a few other things you can enjoy on the island. First off, Carnival has organized events that you can participate in. We didn’t join in as we were having too good a time relaxing but we did walk down the beach to see all the sand creations that were made. Also, if you like to shop, there are a few souvenir shops you can look through as well. If you want to do something a little more exciting, you might consider looking through and booking an excursion before you go.
I can’t end this article without mentioning the beauty of the island. Not only was this visit one of the most relaxing beach experiences I have ever had but the beauty of the water, beach and island is hard to match. The day was easy to enjoy because I didn’t have to worry about bringing anything with me besides a book, towel and some sunscreen. The weather was perfect and the ocean waters were still. I’m pretty sure I took at least one nap with the sounds of the beach in the background! It was neat to see our ship docked out in the ocean as well.
So in conclusion, if I had to give a rating to the whole Half Moon Cay experience, I would give it a rating of 4.9 out of 5. I highly recommend you go when you get a chance! – Pepper and Passports
If you are cruising on Carnival, check out the difference between Your Time and Timed dining here – https://pepperandpassports.com/cruise-dining-options-pros-and-cons-what-to-choose/
If you find yourself close to Fort Worth, stop by and check out this delicious ice cream shop that even sells dairy free ice cream! – https://suitcasesandsalt.com/my-favorite-ice-cream-shop-in-fort-worth-texas/
Do you have a lot of places you want to see and visit? Grab this free bucket list maker here – https://seasonedtravel.kit.com/793556e6a0
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