We’re now halfway through this six-day Bahamas cruise on the Carnival Vista, which has had a modified itinerary due to the ship’s propulsion system. Today is also our first port of call – Half Moon Cay.
Originally known as Little San Salvador Island, Half Moon Cay is owned by Carnival Corporation and has historically been used mainly by Holland America Line. The cruise giant purchased this little slice of paradise in 1996 for around $6 million and developed it into an exclusive destination for its passengers.
The island is named after the Half Moon, a ship captained by Henry Hudson in the 1600s, and also for its crescent-shaped beach. The Half Moon is prominently displayed in Holland America Line’s logo. Over the years, Carnival Corp has begun to use the island for other lines it owns, such as Carnival.
Currently, the only way to get to Half Moon Cay is via tender boats or water shuttles. The island has a fleet of high-capacity shuttles that are used instead of the ship’s own tenders. However, construction is currently underway to build a pier at the opposite end of the island, which will allow visiting ships to dock right at the port. This addition will enable Carnival’s larger Excel-class ships—Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee—to visit the island for the first time beginning in 2025.
Looking at where the pier is being built in relation to the current entrance and beach area, there is a significant amount of unused beach area, which gives rise to some speculation. I’m thinking that there will actually be two parts of Half Moon Cay, with the beach being expanded to allow ships that use the pier to have their own section of the beach, while ships that continue to anchor offshore will continue to use the existing area.
Since there hasn’t been much said about the actual work being done, besides the construction of the pier, this is simply my guess, as it’s one heck of a walk to the existing beach area from where the pier is located. But it opens up a tremendous amount of opportunity to transform Half Moon Cay.
Now, with more Carnival ships calling on Half Moon Cay, there’s been a slight branding change. The island’s water shuttles have always had the Holland America Line name and logo on them, and signage throughout the island has featured the previously mentioned Half Moon logo. They have begun replacing the Holland America branding with Half Moon Cay branding as shown below. You can see one shuttle still has the HAL logo while another is now sporting the Half Moon Cay logo. Island crew are also wearing teal-colored polo shirts with the new logo.
Let’s talk about things to do on the island. Besides spending time on the white sand beach, there are shore excursions such as horseback riding in the surf, glass-bottom boat tours, bike tours, and nature excursions. Private cabanas are also available to rent starting at $699 per day (a significant hike over the years), along with watersports rentals.
As soon as you arrive, you pass through a small marketplace with a bar and a few shops—there isn’t a crazy amount of stores here, which, for many, is a good thing! When it comes time for eats, they have the traditional island BBQ served buffet style, which is complimentary, and there’s also the Lobster Shack, which serves up lobster rolls and other bites for an additional charge.
When it comes to drinks, there are servers who wander the beach taking drink orders and selling buckets of beer, but be advised, your drink package is NOT valid on the island, and all drinks cost extra. There’s also the Captain Morgan bar, which is set in a replica wrecked pirate ship—also, drinks cost extra.
For the most part, when you visit Half Moon Cay, the main thing is to just enjoy the beach, which is what most people did.
Those looking to be among the first to go ashore needed to grab a tender ticket the day before. Starting at around 7:45 am, tender ticket groups began being called, as well as those who had booked shore excursions. Once all the tender ticket holders were ashore, the all-clear for open boarding began around 10 am, with continual water shuttle service until 3:45 pm.
I headed out to the island around 12:30 pm, and many were already coming back, with the theme being… “OMG it’s so hot!” Why, yes. Yes, it is. You’re in the Bahamas in the summer. Key point: know the weather where you’re going, and if you don’t like the heat, well, don’t go where it’s 90 degrees with a feels-like in the 100s.
When I decided to return, the line for the water shuttle was a bit long, and it took about 45 minutes of waiting in line, going through security, and waiting for the shuttle to fill to finally get back onboard the Vista.
At Half Moon Cay, you go through security, which includes a metal detector and x-ray machine for bags before you board the water shuttle, eliminating the need to do this back at the ship, which significantly decreases the time it takes to unload. Once you get on the ship, they simply scan your cruise card, and you’re good to go back to using that drink package.
Now let’s talk about the evening. In the ship’s main theater, there was another product show, which I skipped based on yesterday’s cringe-worthy performance, which I bailed on shortly after it started. For those who enjoy stand-up, two comedians were putting on two shows, and later in the evening—much past my bedtime—the Mega Deck Party up on the lido.
Before figuring out what I was going to do for dinner, I took a spin around the ship to see what was going on and to grab a cocktail. As usual, the Alchemy Bar was packed with guests, and there were only two bartenders and one cocktail server/bartender taking care of the tables. As I noted previously, unless you’re lucky enough to secure a seat at the bar, good luck trying to get a drink unless you have patience to wait a long time for one.
I decided to pop across the hall to Fahrenheit 555, the ship’s steakhouse, to have a seat at their very small, four-seat bar that is normally for people waiting for their table to be ready. It’s not an “advertised” bar, but it is one you can go to, walk up to, grab a drink, or sit and enjoy. For bourbon and whiskey fans, they are the only bar onboard that has Blanton’s—and it’s covered by the drink package. They also have various other rare whiskeys, and you can also order one of the “bespoke” gin and tonics that are on the steakhouse menu.
After enjoying a few of those refreshing G&Ts, I headed up to Ji Ji Asian Kitchen for dinner. For those who haven’t been following along, Day 1 was dinner at Cucina del Capitano, where there were some minor hiccups like cold bread and mussels and clams without clams. Day 2 was at the steakhouse, where it took 38 minutes to get a G&T, they no longer have sides, including baked potatoes, and service was a bit iffy.
I set my expectations low for tonight’s meal.
I didn’t have a reservation, but showed up around 8:30 pm and was given a table right away. There were only a few others in the restaurant, so it wasn’t busy. The menu features some standard Asian dishes, and for the $24 per person charge, you get to choose a starter, entree, and dessert.
After reviewing the menu, my server came over with a pad, where you check off your choices and hand it back to him. This was something that changed since I ate at the same restaurant on the Carnival Horizon exactly a year ago.
A “compliments of the chef” treat arrived, which was some type of breaded and deep-fried mashed potato, which wasn’t bad.
Next up was what would become the star of the meal, even though it was the appetizer—the Nanjing-style Duck. Think crispy skin, deliciously tender duck meat that melts in your mouth. Bring me two more, and I could have made a meal out of it.
Next up for my entree, I went with the beef and some chicken fried rice. The rice was your standard stuff—nothing to write home about there—and the beef had a bit of a kick and was, once again, average.
For dessert, I went with the crepes, which were very heavy but delicious—a sweet way to end the first meal of the cruise that I didn’t have any issues with. Drinks were delivered in a timely fashion, service was attentive, the food was good, and I had nothing to complain about.
Imagine that.
With it being a long, hot day with our island call, I took a spin around the ship, got some ice cream, and headed off to bed. An early night for sure and a night where I missed that Mega Deck Party!
One thing that I will note, which most people won’t even notice, is the ever-present security presence. I’ve been on several Carnival ships, and I’ve never seen as many security people as I have on this cruise. You see them all day at the pools, they’re walking stateroom corridors, hanging out in elevator lobbies, and stationed all around the atrium. No matter where you look, there’s security.
With the amount of widely publicized fights and altercations on Carnival ships that seem to infiltrate every corner of social media, this may be a very coordinated effort across the fleet to make security’s presence very well known to deter any scallywags from starting trouble. I don’t have a problem with that.
We’re currently sailing to our second port of call, the second-worst destination in all of the Caribbean—Nassau. What’s the
Fun Times for Day 3:
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The Fun Times for September 3, 2024 can also be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.