Half Moon Cay in brief
This is the one private island in the Bahamas where the first question has two answers.
A new pier opened on the island's north side on June 1, 2026, and Carnival ships now dock directly at it.
Carnival Sunrise was the first in. cruiseradio.net puts the pier at 1,005 feet and describes the result plainly — you dock, you walk off, and you are on the beach.
A pier, not a promise of one.
cruisefever reports it takes Carnival ships of all sizes, including the Excel class, which could never reach this island before.
Holland America did not move. Its ships still tender, to a separate beach club on the south side.
That split is easy to disbelieve, so here is the strongest evidence for it, and it is Holland America's own.
In July 2026 the line announced its 2027-28 Caribbean season, with nearly every itinerary calling here. Among the perks listed for its new beach club — priority tendering.
A cruise line does not sell priority tendering as a benefit eighteen months out if it expects to be docking. Read that as a settled position, not a transition.
Our own Caribbean cruise guide already says exactly this, and it is right. We checked it hard because it was the fact most likely to have gone stale, and it has not.
Princess is the third answer, and it is genuinely unsettled. Six ships start calling in November 2026, and cruisefever reports some will use the pier while others anchor and tender — same island, same brand, two different mornings.
So confirm your own ship, not your own cruise line. The island can hand two guests on the same day completely different mornings.
Check the ship, not the brochure.
The island itself is Little San Salvador — 2,400 acres roughly halfway between Eleuthera and Cat Island, about 100 miles southeast of Nassau.
Holland America bought it in December 1996 for US$6 million and opened it in December 1997. Carnival Corporation holds it now, and renamed it RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay in December 2024.
How much of it is built on depends who you ask. Holland America's own account gives about 65 acres, Wikipedia says 50 and whatsinport says 45 — under three percent of the island on any of those numbers.
Once ashore, the transport answer is a free tram, and this island publishes better walking figures than most.
cruiseradio describes a complimentary hop-on, hop-off tram serving six stops along the beach — with walk times between stops of five to fifteen minutes.
The whole route is walkable in about an hour on the Papaya Pathway, added in the 2026 works. cruisefever names the tram zones after fruit — Mango, Lime, Pineapple, Guava and Avocado.
So if the tram queue is long, walking is a real option here rather than a punishment — fifteen minutes is the worst single leg anyone publishes.
What is free is the beach, and the beach is the entire point of this island.
There is no waterpark, no lagoon pool and no zip line. Carnival's own leadership framed the redevelopment as keeping the place pristine and relaxing — a real choice, not a shortfall.
A beach, not an attraction.
Loungers, hammocks, towels and the barbecue lunch come with your fare, confirmed on both lines' own sites.
Umbrellas are where the sources fall out. Holland America's own site calls them a paid rental; cruiseradio's September 2026 Carnival-side guide counts more than 4,600 umbrellas and over 9,000 chairs free.
Both can be true if the free ones are the north side's. We are printing both rather than picking, because the island is now split by brand.
What costs money is a short, expensive list, and the prices do not agree with each other at all.
A note on the line-priced numbers below, said once. Carnival's and Holland America's own destination pages would not load for us when we checked, so their figures reach this page through our own excursion guide's earlier reading of them.
Everything below inherits that caveat.
Carnival's own booking page prices a standard cabana at $720.99 for up to four over five hours, and the Private Oasis at $2,110.99 for up to twelve.
cruisefever's RelaxAway guide says cabanas from $359, villas from $599 and a Private Oasis at $1,600. A June 2026 report on the Holland America side cites $799.99 and up.
That is a four-fold spread on the same product. Budget against your own quote, not against a number printed here or anywhere else.
The excursions are cleaner, because Carnival publishes them — a stingray wade at $54.99, an ocean horseback swim at $136.99, a guided jet ski at $125.99, a mangrove kayak at $59.99, a boat snorkel at $65.99.
Holland America's own listing pages generally show no price at all. So ask your own line, not the internet.
One drinks fact is worth more than all of those numbers, and Carnival states it in its own terms.
CHEERS! "is not offered on 2 day cruises, charter cruises, and beverage purchases made at Celebration Key, Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays." The same terms exclude "Beverages purchased off the ship at any port of call, including Princess Cays and Half Moon Cay."
So you pay for drinks separately from the moment you step off. Settled line policy, not a traveller's inference.
That is the opposite of how Royal Caribbean handles its own island. Same region, same week, different rule.
You cannot leave. No town, no road off, no ferry and no independent operator — so every dollar past your fare goes to whichever brand brought you.
Which of the paid add-ons actually earns its charge is a separate question, and it belongs to our Half Moon Cay excursion guide.
On foot from the ship
Opened June 1, 2026 with Carnival Sunrise the first ship in. cruiseradio puts it at 1,005 feet, and cruisefever reports it takes Carnival ships of all sizes including the Excel class, which could not call here before.
Holland America kept its tender operation and its separate south-side beach club, and its own 2027-28 announcement still lists priority tendering as a beach club perk. Our own excursion guide puts the ride at roughly 20 minutes — one source deep, so treat it as an order of magnitude.
cruiseradio describes a complimentary tram connecting six stops along the beach, with accessible trams available. cruisefever names its zones after fruit — Mango, Lime, Pineapple, Guava and Avocado.
cruiseradio's own figure, and it is better than most private islands publish. Fifteen minutes is the longest single leg named — so walking between zones is a real option rather than a penalty.
The full route is walkable in about an hour, per cruiseradio, on a pathway added during the 2026 works — your fallback if the tram queue is long, or if the chairs you want are three stops down.
No town, no road, no ferry and no independent operator on Little San Salvador. The developed strip is under three percent of a 2,400-acre island — and the rest is protected habitat rather than somewhere to wander.
What's nearby, broadly
That list is really two lists, split by brand rather than by distance — the north side is Carnival's and the south side is Holland America's, and the pier only serves one of them. The tram is what joins them up for the areas that are shared. Nothing on it is more than about an hour's walk from anything else, which is the useful thing about an island where under three percent is developed.
Commonly reached from
Half Moon Cay is Carnival Corporation's, and our own Caribbean cruise guide lists Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Line as the regular callers with Princess Cruises seasonal from November 2026. cruisefever reports 22 Carnival ships scheduled here and six named Princess ships starting that month. The ranked add-on decision lives in our Half Moon Cay excursion guide, and for the contrast in how another corporation runs its island, see Great Stirrup Cay.
Planning your Half Moon Cay day
The specific picks — which paid excursion is actually worth it, what to skip, and why — already have their own dedicated guide, built and kept current on its own schedule. This page stays at the port-identity level on purpose; that one goes deep.
Booking a tour yourself? Our comparison of Shore Excursions Group and Viator covers which of the two suits which kind of port day — and when the ship’s own tour is still the better buy.
How does Half Moon Cay compare with the other cruise-line beach stops? Our private islands and beach clubs showdown scores twelve of them in six categories, with families and couples fit shown separately.
Best Half Moon Cay shore excursions
Half Moon Cay now splits in two — Carnival docks at a new pier, Holland America still tenders.
See the full excursion guide →Practical notes
This is private property in The Bahamas, and that is the entry rule in full.
Our own Caribbean hub states it plainly: no visa is needed, and there is no formal immigration process for guests going ashore.
You carry your ship's card, not a passport, and the island is not a port of entry in any sense you will experience.
The property line is also the edge of your day. There is no gate to walk out of and no road that leads anywhere.
Money is your cruise card, with one cash exception.
The Bahamian dollar is legal tender at one to one with the US dollar, and the island's own operational site describes US dollars as widely accepted.
Most spending runs through the preloaded cruise card you are already using onboard. A card island, not a cash one.
The artisan market is the exception, and it is cash only. Bring a few small notes.
The drinks question is the one that costs real money, and Carnival answers it in its own terms.
CHEERS! "is not offered on 2 day cruises, charter cruises, and beverage purchases made at Celebration Key, Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays." The same document excludes "Beverages purchased off the ship at any port of call, including Princess Cays and Half Moon Cay."
So you pay for drinks separately ashore. Not a traveller's report, and not the bar's discretion — the line's own published policy.
Two 2026 guides report the same thing. That is corroboration, not the basis of the claim.
Basic beverages like lemonade, tea and water are free, per cruiseradio.
The gap is alcohol.
That makes this island the opposite of Royal Caribbean's, where packages do carry ashore. Same region, same week, different rule.
Lockers, chairs and the umbrella disagreement.
cruiseradio prices lockers at $11.99 a day. Loungers, hammocks, towels and the barbecue lunch are in your fare on both lines' own sites.
Umbrellas are where the two lines' own material and the newer reporting part company. Holland America's own site lists them as a paid rental; cruiseradio's Carnival-side guide counts more than 4,600 free umbrellas alongside over 9,000 chairs.
The likeliest explanation is that the island is now genuinely split, with newer kit on the north side. We print both positions, not an average of them.
What this island is not, and one thing we could not settle.
There is no waterpark, no freshwater lagoon and no zip line. A long crescent of calm beach is the product — which our own Caribbean hub says outright.
We went looking for a floating aqua park or inflatable obstacle course and found no confirmation of one in either line's own material.
cruisefever's RelaxAway guide lists an Aqua Park among the free things. One secondary source against one stated absence — so we are naming it unresolved rather than settling it for you.
Do not confuse this island with the similarly named Half Moon Lagoon Aqua Park on Cat Island. A different destination, not a second name for this one.
Accessibility is better here than at most private islands, and the tram is why.
cruiseradio reports beach wheelchairs on a first-come basis and accessible trams on the Carnival side.
Docking helps too. A pier removes the tender transfer, which is the step that most often rules out a private island for a wheelchair user.
Which is exactly why Holland America guests should ask. A tender boat is a transfer, not a ramp.
Season, weather and the cancellation question.
Our own Caribbean hub treats this island on the same November-to-April dry-season pattern as the wider region.
Bahamian hurricane season runs June to November and peaks in September. Plan the shoulder months on weather, not on price.
We found no documented weather or rough-water cancellation pattern specific to a Half Moon Cay call in either line's own materials — which is a gap in the record, not a clean bill of health.
What is structurally true is that tendering is more weather-sensitive than docking. So Holland America guests now carry more cancellation risk than Carnival guests — on the same island, on the same day.
Names, and two of them cause real confusion.
The island was renamed RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay in December 2024, and the trade press and Princess's own itinerary updates now use it. Itineraries and our own hub still say Half Moon Cay, and so do we.
Lighthouse Point here is a place name on the island, a hillside with old limestone-hut ruins. That comes from Holland America's own island history as our excursion guide read it, because the line's pages would not load for us when we checked. There is no lighthouse.
That matters because Disney's Lookout Cay sits at a different Lighthouse Point, on Eleuthera — and the actual historic Half Moon Caye Light is in Belize, on a different atoll.
All-aboard, and what nobody publishes about it.
We found no cruise-line-published all-aboard mechanic for this island, and no statement about whether card tracking works differently on a private one.
Treat the posted departure time as firm. A private island buys you no slack.
If you are tendering, build in more. The last boat is a queue, not a gangway.
Sources: Seabound Journeys' own Caribbean cruise guide and Half Moon Cay shore excursion guide, which carries our earlier reading of Carnival's own booking pages for the excursion and cabana prices and of Holland America's own site and history page; Carnival's own CHEERS! package terms (carnival.com), which load and which name this island in the exclusion; Wikipedia's Little San Salvador Island record for the acreage, the 1996 purchase price, the 1997 opening and the June 2026 port; whatsinport.com for the port coordinate and its own developed-acreage figure; OpenStreetMap via Mapcarta for the island coordinate; Cruise Industry News (December 10, 2024 on the renaming and the north-south split, June 19, 2025 on the two-berth pier project, September 26, 2024 on the project's start, June 1, 2026 on the pier's opening and the Papaya Pathway, July 6, 2026 on Holland America's 2027-28 season and its priority tendering, September 11, 2026 on Sun Princess's itinerary change); cruisefever.net (June 1, 2026 on the pier and Carnival Sunrise, August 27, 2026 on the six Princess ships, and its RelaxAway things-to-do guide); and cruiseradio.net's September 18, 2026 guide to what is free and what costs extra at RelaxAway, for the 1,005-foot pier, the tram, the walk times, the umbrellas and the lockers, with its CHEERS! position now corroborating Carnival's own terms rather than standing in for them. Carnival's and Holland America's own destination pages returned 404 and empty responses on every attempt and are recorded as unread — all consulted September 21, 2026.
Planning a Half Moon Cay port day?
Tell us how much time you've got and who's with you.
A short call, a full day, kids in tow or a couple wanting quiet water — we'll point you at the actual right answer, not just a list.
Answers verified against current pricing and itineraries before you book.
Half Moon Cay FAQ
Does my ship dock or tender at Half Moon Cay?
It depends entirely on which line brought you, and this is the fact worth checking before anything else.
Carnival ships dock. A 1,005-foot pier opened on the island's north side on June 1, 2026, with Carnival Sunrise the first ship in, and it takes Carnival ships of all sizes including the Excel class.
Holland America ships still tender, to a separate beach club on the south side. Princess starts calling in November 2026 and does both, with some ships using the pier and others anchoring off.
Is Holland America really still tendering after the pier opened?
Yes, and the best evidence is Holland America's own.
When the line announced its 2027-28 Caribbean season in July 2026, with nearly every itinerary calling here, it listed priority tendering among the features of its new south-side beach club. A line does not sell priority tendering as a perk eighteen months out if it expects to be docking.
The joint December 2024 announcement set up the split in the first place, keeping Holland America on the south side while the pier went in on the north — though it is the later material, not that release, that states the tendering continues. A June 2026 report says its ships keep the current tendering process, and the ride runs roughly 20 minutes on a single source.
How do you get around the island once you are ashore?
A free hop-on, hop-off tram, serving six stops along the beach, per cruiseradio.net's September 2026 guide. cruisefever names its zones after fruit — Mango, Lime, Pineapple, Guava and Avocado.
Walking is genuinely practical here. The same source puts walk times between stops at five to fifteen minutes, and the whole route at about an hour on the Papaya Pathway.
Accessible trams and first-come beach wheelchairs are both reported on the Carnival side.
What is included in the fare at Half Moon Cay?
The beach, loungers, hammocks, towels and the barbecue lunch, confirmed on both lines' own sites. Basic beverages like lemonade, tea and water are free too — the alcohol is where the money goes.
Umbrellas are disputed. Holland America's own site lists them as a paid rental; cruiseradio's Carnival-side guide counts more than 4,600 free umbrellas alongside over 9,000 chairs.
The likeliest reading is that the island is now genuinely split by brand, with newer kit on the north side. We print both rather than average them.
Does the CHEERS! drinks package work on the island?
No, and Carnival says so in its own terms rather than leaving it to inference.
CHEERS! "is not offered on 2 day cruises, charter cruises, and beverage purchases made at Celebration Key, Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays," and the same terms exclude "Beverages purchased off the ship at any port of call, including Princess Cays and Half Moon Cay." Two 2026 guides report the same thing, which corroborates it rather than carrying it.
So you pay ashore, drink by drink — the opposite of Royal Caribbean's island, where packages do carry off the gangway. Lemonade, tea and water stay free.
How much is a cabana here?
The sources do not agree, and the gap is too wide to split.
Carnival's own booking page prices a standard cabana at $720.99 for up to four over five hours, and $2,110.99 for the Private Oasis for up to twelve. cruisefever's RelaxAway guide says cabanas from $359, villas from $599 and a Private Oasis at $1,600. A June 2026 report on the Holland America side cites $799.99 and up.
That is not rounding — it is a four-fold spread on the same product. Get your own quote at booking rather than budgeting against any of those figures.
What do the excursions cost?
Carnival publishes its own, and those are the numbers worth carrying. Off carnival.com: the Stingray Adventure at $54.99 for an hour with a minimum age of 6; Horseback Riding by Land and Sea at $136.99 for 45 minutes, minimum age 10, minimum height 54 inches and maximum weight 225 lbs; the Aqua Trax jet ski at $125.99 for 45 minutes, 18 and over, with a physical driver's licence required; the Tropical Kayak Adventure at $59.99 for an hour; and Snorkeling by Boat at $65.99 for an hour.
Holland America's equivalent listing pages generally show no public price — so do not assume the two brands charge the same for the same hour.
Lockers run $11.99 a day, per cruiseradio.
Is there a waterpark or a lagoon pool at Half Moon Cay?
No, and that is deliberate rather than an omission. Carnival's own leadership framed the redevelopment around keeping the place pristine and relaxing.
A long crescent of calm sand is the product here. If a built waterpark is what your group wants, Carnival's Celebration Key is the island that has one, not this one.
One thing we could not settle. Neither line's own material confirms a floating aqua park, while cruisefever's RelaxAway guide lists an Aqua Park among the free things — so we are naming that unresolved rather than picking.
Which cruise lines call at Half Moon Cay?
Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line regularly, and Princess Cruises from November 2026.
Holland America bought the island in December 1996 for US$6 million and opened it in December 1997; Carnival Corporation holds it now. cruisefever reports 22 Carnival ships scheduled here.
Princess brings six named ships: Enchanted, Caribbean, Sun, Coral, Regal and Sky. Sun Princess's November 22, 2026 sailing swapped Princess Cays for this island. We found no source confirming Seabourn has ever called here — which is not the same as ruling it out.
Has the island changed its name?
Yes. Carnival Corporation renamed it RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, announced in December 2024.
The trade press uses that name now, and so does Princess's own itinerary update. Our own Caribbean hub and most itineraries still say Half Moon Cay, and so do we, because that is what you will see on your booking.
It is the same island either way — nothing about the rename changes who can call there or what is free.
Is there a lighthouse at Half Moon Cay?
No. Lighthouse Point here is a place name, a hillside with old limestone-hut ruins visited on nature walks — that description comes from Holland America's own island history as our guide read it, since the line's pages would not load for us when we checked.
Two similar names cause real confusion. Disney's Lookout Cay sits at a different Lighthouse Point, on Eleuthera. The actual historic Half Moon Caye Light is in Belize, on the Lighthouse Reef Atoll.
Three destinations, three near-identical names — and none of them is the other.
Can I leave the island or book with a local operator?
No. There is no town, no road off, no ferry and no independent tour operator on Little San Salvador.
Under three percent of the 2,400-acre island is developed — and the rest is protected habitat rather than somewhere to wander into. Every dollar past your fare goes to whichever brand brought you.
So the usual ship-versus-independent question does not apply here. The only real decision is whether a paid add-on beats the beach day you have already bought.
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