A New Beach Club Debuts at Holland America's Half Moon Cay
Holland America's Half Moon Cay just opened a new all-inclusive Beach Club with priority tendering and a barbecue pavilion. Here's what day pass holders get.
Holland America Line’s private Bahamian island, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, now has a dedicated Beach Club — and this month the island welcomes its first Beach Club guests, with day passes opening for booking in early October. The line confirmed the addition in an announcement ahead of the Caribbean season, describing a new reserved beach area with its own open-air design, upgraded loungers, and a separate food pavilion. It headlines a broader refresh of the island that Holland America is rolling out across the 2026-27 Caribbean season.
If you have a Holland America Caribbean sailing booked this winter, this is the kind of change worth opening your itinerary to check. Here’s what’s actually new, what it costs you in time and money, and how it stacks up against the other private-island beach clubs cruisers are weighing right now.
What’s new at Half Moon Cay
The centerpiece is the Beach Club, a reserved, day-pass area with a blue, orange, and cream color scheme and an open-air layout. According to Holland America’s announcement, a day pass includes:
- Priority tendering from ship to island (Holland America tenders its guests ashore here, so skipping the tender line is a perk with real value)
- Dedicated waiter service at your lounger
- All-inclusive alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
- Included beach accessories plus specialty food and beverage options
- What the line calls “special surprise moments”
Alongside the Beach Club, a new food pavilion serves a complimentary, island-only barbecue menu. The wider beach is getting upgraded cabanas, more daybeds, upgraded canopy loungers built for two, refreshed clamshells, and renovated bars and eateries. The island also kept the four pickleball courts Holland America added last season.
Holland America President Beth Bodensteiner framed the timing plainly in the announcement: “It’s exciting to unveil the Beach Club as we prepare to welcome our first visitors in October.”
Why it matters for your cruise
Holland America says the enhancements apply to more than two dozen Caribbean itineraries sailing October 2026 through April 2027, so this isn’t a one-ship experiment — it’s a season-wide upgrade to a stop that shows up on a lot of HAL Caribbean sailings. The whole effort is building toward RelaxAway’s 30th anniversary in 2027, which the line is marking as a yearlong celebration.
The practical read: Half Moon Cay was already one of the more consistently praised private islands in the Caribbean, and the beachfront itself is free to enjoy on any call. The Beach Club is an optional paid layer on top of that. The line hasn’t published a day-pass price, so when we checked the announcement, the cost was the one detail left open — worth confirming with Holland America or your travel advisor before you count on it.
How it compares
Private-island beach clubs have quietly become a competitive battleground across the industry:
| Private-island beach club | Line | Island |
|---|---|---|
| RelaxAway Beach Club | Holland America Line | Half Moon Cay, Bahamas |
| Royal Beach Club Paradise Island | Royal Caribbean | Paradise Island, Nassau |
The pattern is the same everywhere: a reserved, higher-touch enclave sold as a day pass, layered over the free beach day. Half Moon Cay is also getting more crowded on the calendar — Princess Cruises will begin calling at the island on select Caribbean sailings in November 2026, replacing Princess Cays, so Carnival Corporation’s sister brands will be sharing the sand.
Our take
For first-timers, the free beach day at Half Moon Cay is still the headline, and it remains one of the strongest private-island stops you can get. The Beach Club is the kind of add-on that makes sense if you value a guaranteed shaded lounger, a drink in hand without a walk to the bar, and getting ashore first on a tender day. If that’s you, book early once pricing posts — reserved island spaces tend to sell out on popular sailings. For a wider look at where this call fits, see our Bahamas cruise guide.
