Princess Adds Half Moon Cay to Its Caribbean Lineup

Princess Cruises is getting a second private-island beach day in the Bahamas. Starting in November 2026, six Princess ships will begin calling at RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay — the sprawling Bahamian retreat that Carnival Corporation recently expanded and rebranded — giving Princess guests a Carnival-family private destination beyond the line’s longtime Princess Cays. According to Princess’s published Caribbean itineraries, the ships slated to visit are Enchanted Princess, Caribbean Princess, Sun Princess, Coral Princess, Regal Princess, and Sky Princess, on select Caribbean sailings.

If you’ve booked a Princess Caribbean sailing for late 2026 or 2027, this is worth checking your itinerary for. It’s not a replacement — it’s an addition.

What’s actually changing

Half Moon Cay used to be a Holland America-exclusive stop. Now that it sits under the wider Carnival Corporation umbrella, its beaches are being opened up to sister brands, and Princess is next in line. The island is one of the most consistently praised private destinations in the Bahamas, built around a long, curving half-moon beach with shallow turquoise water — the kind of low-effort, high-payoff beach day that tends to top guests’ favorite-port lists.

The most practical wrinkle is how you’ll actually get ashore. Carnival Corporation built a new pier at the island that can berth two ships at once, including some of Carnival’s largest vessels. But the island now runs both a pier and a tender operation, so how you actually get ashore can depend on your specific ship and the day’s conditions — some arrivals berth at the pier and let guests walk directly ashore, while others still anchor offshore and shuttle guests in by tender.

That distinction matters more than it sounds. A pier means you step off the ship and onto the island on your own schedule — helpful for anyone with mobility concerns, strollers, or a low tolerance for tender lines. A tender operation means waiting for a shuttle boat, and it’s the first thing that gets canceled if wind and swell pick up. Our advice: once your sailing is bookable, look at whether your specific ship is a pier call or a tender call before you set expectations for the day.

Princess Cays vs. RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay

Here’s how Princess’s two Bahamian private stops stack up for planning purposes:

Feature	Princess Cays	RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay
Status	Long-running Princess private beach	New Princess call (starts Nov 2026)
Corporate family	Princess/Carnival Corp	Carnival Corp (formerly HAL-exclusive)
Size	Smaller peninsula beach area	Large private island
Getting ashore	Tender	Mixed — pier for some ships, tender for others
Included	Beach access, loungers, lunch	Complimentary lunch, beach chairs, umbrellas

Both stops keep the basics free, which is the reassuring part: Princess says complimentary lunch, beach chairs, and umbrellas are included at Half Moon Cay, so a satisfying beach day doesn’t require an upcharge. Cabanas and premium extras will almost certainly be sold separately, as they are at most private islands.

Princess has not yet published Half Moon Cay-specific fine print for its Plus and Premier packages, so if your beverage benefit is a factor in how you plan a beach day, it’s worth confirming the drink-package details for your specific sailing once they’re posted rather than assuming they mirror Princess Cays.

Why this is a smart move for Princess

Private islands have quietly become one of the most competitive fronts in cruising. Lines are pouring money into exclusive beach destinations because they’re reliable crowd-pleasers, they keep spending onboard the brand’s ecosystem, and they insulate itineraries from congested public ports. By plugging into Half Moon Cay, Princess gets an A-list beach day without building anything from scratch — it simply leverages infrastructure Carnival Corporation already paid to expand.

For guests, the takeaway is straightforward. Princess Caribbean itineraries just got a little more appealing, and one of the Bahamas’ most-loved beaches is joining the rotation. The thing to verify before you get excited is the arrival method: a pier day and a tender day are very different experiences at the same beach.

Princess Cays isn’t going anywhere. Think of Half Moon Cay as a second option in the deck — and, for a lot of itineraries, a genuinely better beach.

Source: Princess Cruises, “Bahamas Cruises” — Princess’s official Caribbean/Bahamas destination page, which now features RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay alongside Princess Cays and Celebration Key. Ship names and 2026 timing reflect Princess’s published Caribbean itineraries; pier and tender details verified against public reference sources.