Princess Cruises Has Dropped Princess Cays, Its Own Private Island, After 34 Years
Every call from November has been pulled and moved to Half Moon Cay. Here is what happens to your booking
Princess Cruises has quietly removed Princess Cays from its itineraries from November 2026 onwards. The private beach destination on Eleuthera has been on Princess itineraries since 1992, and it has now also disappeared from Carnival Corporation's Paradise Collection of private ports. Guests already booked are being moved to RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay.
Princess has not said the island is closing. What it has said, via a spokesperson to Cruise Fever, is that the majority of its published calls have shifted to Half Moon Cay. Cruise Critic reported the change first on 1 September. But if you search Princess's own site now, the autumn and winter Princess Cays calls are simply not there.
So this is not a rumour. It is a line walking away from a beach it has been selling for 34 years.
Key facts
What: all Princess Cays calls removed from Princess itineraries from November 2026
Still going: several Princess Cays visits remain on the schedule through September and October 2026
Where they are going instead: RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, with some sailings redirected to Celebration Key
Ships affected: Half Moon Cay calls are showing on Enchanted Princess, Caribbean Princess, Sun Princess, Coral Princess, Regal Princess and Sky Princess
First calls: November 2026, with Star Princess at Celebration Key on 1 November and Regal Princess on 9 November
Not closed: Carnival Corporation says Princess Cays remains available to its own brands and to outside lines, and Carnival Cruise Line still has calls booked there into early 2028
What actually happened
The sequence matters here, because it tells you this was planned rather than reactive.
Last week Princess emailed travel agents to say it would call at RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay for the first time from November 2026. That was framed as an addition. Good news, a new destination, more variety.
Then booked guests started getting emails telling them their Princess Cays call had been changed to Half Moon Cay. Then the Princess Cays calls came off the website entirely for anything from November. Then the island vanished from the Paradise Collection listing.
Princess's line, when asked, is that most published calls have moved. Carnival Corporation's line is that Princess Cays is still available for Carnival brands and for non Carnival lines to use. Neither statement says the island is shutting. Both statements are careful.
Carnival Cruise Line, meanwhile, still has Princess Cays on its own schedule into early 2028. So the beach is not being bulldozed. Princess has just stopped going.
Why Princess is doing this
Two reasons, and the second one is the honest one.
The first is the pier. Princess Cays has never had one. Every visit means anchoring offshore and tendering everyone in, which eats an hour of your morning, another chunk of your afternoon, and gets cancelled outright if the swell is up. Half Moon Cay now has a pier on the Carnival side big enough for two ships at once, so some Princess sailings will walk off. Others will still tender, so check your specific sailing rather than assuming.
The second is that Carnival Corporation has spent an enormous amount of money on two other Bahamas destinations and needs ships going to them. Celebration Key opened on Grand Bahama last year and is designed for volume. Half Moon Cay has had a multi million dollar rebuild, a new north side for Carnival, a new name, and a Holland America side refurbishment finishing this autumn.
When you have just built two showpiece destinations, a tender only beach from 1992 with no pier and no new investment is the obvious one to stop feeding. That is not sentimental, but it is not irrational either.
The timing is what makes it sting. On exactly the same day this was landing, Norwegian was cutting the ribbon on a six acre waterpark at Great Stirrup Cay. One line is spending on its island. The other has quietly stopped visiting one.
What it means if you are booked
If you have a Princess cruise with Princess Cays on it, check the itinerary in your booking now rather than waiting for an email.
Sailing in September or October 2026: you are probably still going. Several calls remain on the schedule for those two months.
Sailing from November onwards: your Princess Cays day has almost certainly become Half Moon Cay, or in some cases Celebration Key. You should have had an email. Plenty of people have said theirs arrived before they noticed the change themselves.
Is this a downgrade? No, and I would say it is an upgrade for most people. Half Moon Cay is consistently rated one of the best private destinations in the Caribbean, the beach is better, and there is far more to do. Princess Plus and Premier packages work there. The one genuine loss is if you specifically liked Princess Cays for being quieter and simpler, which some regulars did.
One thing to check: whether your ship uses the pier or tenders. Half Moon Cay has a pier now, but not every Princess ship will be using it. If mobility is a factor for anyone in your party, that is the question to ask before you sail, not on the morning.
Cabanas and excursions: if you had anything pre booked for Princess Cays, that needs rebooking for the new destination. Pre booked shore experiences do not automatically move across, so get onto it rather than assuming it has been handled.
The bigger picture
This is the private island arms race reaching its natural conclusion, which is that some islands lose.
Ten years ago a private beach day was a nice bonus. Now it is a headline feature that lines advertise on the front of the brochure. Royal Caribbean has Perfect Day CocoCay and the Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island. Norwegian has just opened Great Tides Waterpark at Great Stirrup Cay. Carnival Corporation has Celebration Key and the rebuilt RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay. MSC has Ocean Cay.
Once you are competing at that level, a simple beach with tenders and a barbecue does not hold up. Princess Cays was never going to compete with a pier, a waterpark and a beach club. So it has been left behind rather than upgraded.
Whether it stays open is now the real question, and nobody at Carnival Corporation is answering it directly. The company says the port is available for use. Carnival Cruise Line has calls scheduled there into 2028. That is enough to say it has a future for now. It is not enough to say it has a long one.
FAQ
Is Princess Cays closing?
Princess Cruises has not said it is closing, and Carnival Corporation says the port is still available for its own brands and outside lines. What has happened is that Princess has removed all its own calls from November 2026, and Carnival Cruise Line still has visits scheduled there into early 2028.
When does the change take effect?
From November 2026. Princess still has several Princess Cays calls on the schedule through September and October 2026, so nearer term sailings are largely unaffected.
What is replacing Princess Cays on my itinerary?
Most affected sailings have been switched to RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, with some going to Celebration Key on Grand Bahama instead. Half Moon Cay calls are showing on Enchanted Princess, Caribbean Princess, Sun Princess, Coral Princess, Regal Princess and Sky Princess.
Do I get compensation for the port change?
Cruise lines reserve the right to change ports and generally do not offer compensation for a substitution, and this is a swap rather than a cancelled day. If you had pre booked cabanas or excursions at Princess Cays, though, those need rebooking for the new destination and refunding on the old one.
Is Half Moon Cay better than Princess Cays?
For most people, yes. Half Moon Cay has a much stronger beach, more facilities after a multi million dollar rebuild, and a new pier that lets some ships dock rather than tender. Princess Cays was tender only. The trade off is that Half Moon Cay is busier, especially now that three Carnival Corporation brands use it.
The verdict
Nobody is going to riot over this. Half Moon Cay is a better day out than Princess Cays, and if you were booked on one and got the other, you have come out ahead.
But it is worth naming what it is. A cruise line has stopped calling at its own private island, taken it off the corporate list of private destinations, and not said a word publicly about what happens next. That is a quiet ending for a place that has been on Princess itineraries since 1992 and that a lot of people have a photo from.
If you have got a Princess cruise this autumn with Princess Cays still on it, that may well be one of the last chances. Worth actually going ashore rather than staying on board.
Were you booked for Princess Cays, and has yours been moved yet? Tell me in the comments. And subscribe to The Walking Cruiser on YouTube, where I will be covering how the rebuilt Half Moon Cay actually holds up now that three lines are sharing it.
