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There's one complimentary buffet restaurant serving lunch as well as a paid restaurant, Lobster Shack, for seafood. On occasion, more than one ship may be calling upon the island, which can lead to larger than normal crowds. You will need to bring the beach towel supplied to you in your cabin or grab one from near the pool. Then you will need to bring this back with you when you go back the ship or drop it off near the exit of the island.
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas: What You Need to Know
There is a charge for any missing towels not turned in at the end of the cruise. So whether you want to check email, or post that selfie of you on the island to your Instagram, you can do it from the shore. You do need to connect to a different network, but if you paid for wi-fi for the cruise, you can use it on shore as well. Jet Ski ToursAdrenaline junkies will love that you can book a jet ski tour to explore the island and the surrounding area. There’s space for one driver and one passenger, and you’ll be in charge of driving. Don’t worry, they will cover everything you need to know to get started before the tour.
Ocean Cay Location
Once ashore, expect to enjoy a beautiful day on the beach with plenty of activities for watersports, boat trips, swimming, snorkeling and relaxing in the sun. Half Moon Cay is the largest of all the cruise ship private islands, but it keeps facilities and amenities to a minimum, with most of the island remaining undeveloped. That means passengers can enjoy relaxing on the expansive white sand beach or hiking through three miles of nature trails.
Pirate Fun for Youngsters
You can sign up for any of these tours and activities ahead of time to ensure you get a place. Your cruise entertainment crew will organize some team games and fun activities while ashore so get ready to join an impromptu game. The cay has volleyball and basketball courts, horseshoes, shuffleboard and walking trails so there’s plenty for active cruisers to enjoy. Like the rest of the Bahamas, the island enjoys a cool summer Mediterranean climate with daytime temperatures very rarely exceeding 90°F (32°C) in summer. The island enjoys an average of 320 days of sunshine each year and maintains warm seas and balmy temperatures tempered by sea breezes. Half Moon was also the name of the ship belonging to 17th century explorer Henry Hudson which features on the Holland America logo, providing a nice connection between the island and the cruise company.
Cruises
Erica Silverstein is a cruise and family travel expert, who has been covering the industry for more than 15 years. Her articles have appeared on Cruise Critic, Porthole, TravelAge West, and USA Today. A staunch advocate of cruising as an ideal family vacation, she has, on occasion, banned her own children from cruising with her. Villas also come with a full bathroom with a shower and a private patio decked out with padded loungers. Two lounge chairs with a beach umbrella will be reserved for you at the beach.
Private islands provide a relaxing counterpoint to cruise ship itineraries packed with onboard activities, port cities to explore and busy shore excursions. Several of the largest cruise lines own and call on private islands as part of their Caribbean itineraries, including ports in the Bahamas, Haiti and Belize. Harvest Caye opened in 2016 and represents a partnership between the cruise line and the government of Belize, which owns the island. It serves as a private outpost for Norwegian, Oceania and Regent passengers cruising through the Western Caribbean. Ships dock rather than tender, so it's easy for cruisers to head back onboard for lunch. If you love a good beach day, you'll likely be a fan of cruise line private islands.
Norwegian appeals to gourmands with complimentary food trucks serving tacos, ceviche and pulled pork sandwiches. On MSC Cruises' Ocean Cay, you can buy a lobster roll and indulge in ice cream served in a fish-shaped cone (also for a fee). A free option is pulling your beach chair over to the shade of palm trees, where you might also find hammocks. However, these shady spots could already be claimed by clamshell rentals or only be accessible if you trek all the way down the beach. That said, you can escape the sun in shaded bar and buffet areas — though they're not necessarily the most scenic spots for lounging. Island Princess is one of the two 92,000-ton Coral-class ships -- the other is Coral Princess -- that offer transits through the Panama Canal.
American passengers say they were left by cruise ship on an island off Africa - Good Morning America
American passengers say they were left by cruise ship on an island off Africa.
Posted: Tue, 02 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Set to music, the show features colorful graphics around the lighthouse, along with an amazing lightshow. Built as an industrial island and used primarily as an industrial scrapyard and sand excavation site in the 1960s and 1970s, MSC purchased the island in 2015 and has invested $200 million in creating a tropical paradise. There are a number of nature and wildlife-focused activities on the island, making this a great stop for nature lovers.
The Club promises sailors an adults-only beach, scuba diving, snorkeling, dolphin swims, and a hip, DJ-driven pool party that will be the place to see and be seen. Previously set to debut when Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady made her inaugural sailing to the Bahamas in 2021, The Beach Club actually opened to other cruise ships before Virgin Voyages arrived. This is because Scarlet Lady was redeployed to the UK and debuted in the summer of 2021 there instead of from Miami. Opened in 1986, Labadee has changed a bit since those days – including a $55 million upgrade in 2009. No tender is necessary here, even for Oasis-class ships, thanks to upgrades to the pier.
But if you thought that MSC simply bought an island and opened it up to passengers, that’s not the case at all. In total the company spent a reported $300 million into renovating Ocean Cay. What began years ago as a former industrial sand excavation site is now a completely new and revitalized island. That said, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve is still a transformation in progress.
The team of beauticians aboard Holland America Line offer professional massage services while on the island. The most common birds are gulls and waterfowl such as sooty terns, roseate terns, and noody terns. Other birds include wading birds such as egrets, ruddy ducks, herons and Caribbean coots. These can be spotted in the brackish lagoon which has been designated as a bird preserve by the Bahamian National Trust. The cay has nature trails for spotting visiting sea birds and there’s a fitness trail with exercise stations along the way.
When it comes to private islands, Half Moon Cay in The Bahamas couldn’t be lovelier. Blue skies, a crescent-shaped beaches, aquamarine seas and warm breezes make this cruise destination a must-see. Half Moon Cay is one of the islands that make up the archipelago of The Bahamas and is a significant nesting area for waterfowl. It is not surprising that nature lovers find plenty to do in this magnificent place. If you’re dreaming of a cruise vacation, you might as well dream big.
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