Be sure and watch our video from Half Moon Cay: Half Moon Cay - A Day in Paradise!
Today was our "bonus day". By booking two back-to-back cruises we got to stop at Half Moon Cay (Holland America's private island) TWICE! One of the most beautiful beaches ever and a no-cost, no-plan port. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
When we woke up and flipped on the TV, there was no sign of land on the webcam channel. Our time in port was way too short to begin with (last tender leaves the island at 2:00 pm) so we wanted to be off the ship ASAP.
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| No land in sight when we got up. (Bob put a magnetic hook on the ceiling to hang his water shoes to dry! 😄) |
We were at breakfast by 7:15 am, but getting there was frustrating. The rear bank of elevators had been having issues all week and it was down to only one of the four working that morning. As we were eating, there was an announcement that the Veendam would be late getting to HMC due to the ship leaving St. Thomas late the previous night (not by much) and the rough seas overnight (which I did feel!) Tendering was scheduled to start around 8:30 am.
I've mentioned what a great deal we got when booking this cruise and besides the great price, we also had quite a bit of onboard credit. This was a result of a promotion when we booked, credit from using a "Future Cruise Deposit" that we had previously purchased, and the credit from owning stock in the Carnival Corporation (Holland America's parent company.) Oh...and the booking promotion had also included free gratuities. That meant we had several hundred dollars to spend on the cruise.
Using the credits to pay for the shore excursions we booked through the ship worked perfectly...until Bob's dive got cancelled in Grand Turk. With the refund, we now had extra credit left over. It was non-refundable credit which meant it was either "use it or lose it." We are not drinkers and there was nothing of interest in the gift shops.
When waiting for the evening show to start a couple of nights ago, Jon had logged into the Navigator app and saw there were jet ski tours at Half Moon Cay. He had been pushing Bob to do go jet skiing at each port and now it seemed a great way to use up that extra credit. The tour was offered several times but only the noon excursion had any space left...in fact, only two spots were available. Within a minute, those spots were gone and Bob and Jon were booked.
When tendering began, we (meaning the four of us) had a disagreement over whether we needed to get tender tickets. Usually booking a HAL tour means you don't have to deal with tender tickets, but in this case, the guy's jet ski excursion wasn't scheduled until noon. AND...Michelle and I didn't have tickets for any tour.
Michelle, Bob and I went up to the Ocean Bar at 8:30 to play it safe and get tickets, but the line was EXTREMELY long. Bob asked a crew member and was told his excursion ticket would be all he needed to get on the tender, but what about Michelle and I? We weren't sure. Jon was stubborn and refused to even ask about the tickets and told Michelle he would meet her down on Deck 3 where the tenders were boarding.
Michelle and I decided we would take a chance without a ticket and get on the tender with Bob and Jon. The three of us made it as far as Deck 4 and ran into a line that stretched all the way down the hallway. People were waiting to go down the stairs to the lower deck, but no sign of Jon. Once the line started moving, Bob and I had no trouble getting onto a tender with his excursion ticket. We left Michelle to hunt for Jon.
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| The captain overseeing the tendering process. |
What a difference a week made. The day was sunny, but cooler than the previous week. Instead of a large stretch of beach in front of the rows of chairs, there were large waves lapping up under the chairs. We were in the row farthest from the water's edge and still had to move further away to avoid the waves. By noon the waves were even washing under our chairs.
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| Same chairs from the previous week. |
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| No waves on our visit the previous week. |
The Volendam and Veendam were sharing the beach at Half Moon Cay for the day. A group of the singers and dancers from both ships sat in the chairs in front of us. In visiting with them they said they had all gone through rehearsals in New York together and were friends.
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| Passing by the Volendam as we tendered to shore. |
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| Bob with both HAL ships in background...Veendam (left) and Volendam (right) |
The BBQ serving began at 11:30 and we were there just as it started so Bob and Jon would have time to eat before their tour. I had a couple of salads along with a fish taco and a hot dog. I was surprised at how good the hot dog tasted. I think it was the onions and sweet relish, but most anything would be delicious in that setting!
The guys ate quickly and left, but Michelle and I stayed long enough to get an ice cream cone for dessert. The "dessert guy" from the Veendam was scooping the ice cream and got excited when he saw us and said "remember me?!" He was the same guy that had tipped over the whole cart of desserts and I suspected he might be a newer crew member. We had visited with him several times at lunch and also when we had been in the buffet playing cards before the late night snacks.
Michelle didn't get back into the water after lunch (she was cold) but I grabbed my noodle and went back in. It was so fun playing in the waves. Ever now and then a wave would crash over me, but I didn't care...I was savoring each minute because I knew the cruise was coming to an end.
It was after 1 pm before the guys came back from their tour and they reported that they had a great time. Our original itinerary had us staying at HMC until 4 pm, but Hanna had announced that instead, the last tender would leave the island at 2 pm. To make it even more confusing, the sign at the entrance to HMC stated that the last tender was at 2:30 pm. Once the guys returned, we reluctantly gathered up all of our stuff and made our way to the tender.
I was hoping to check in online for our flight the next day at 3:30 before we lost our cell signal, but by then the ship had sailed and my phone went back on airplane mode. I would have to wait and sign in first thing in the morning when we reached Ft. Lauderdale.
I showered when we got back and then Bob and I worked on packing. Or I should say I "tried" to pack. Two people trying to pack at the same time in a small room just doesn't work. I let Bob finish and when he headed to the pickleball court, it was my turn.
Bob said Assistant Cruise Director, Andrea, came by the pickleball court while they were playing and was surprised to see how many had shown up. She didn't stay, but provided some prizes and told Bob to organize a tournament which he did.
We enjoyed our last dinner in the dining room and said our good-byes to waiters Oka and Kadek. They were the best!
The entertainment in the theater was a variety show which meant the two comedians that we had already seen were going to share the stage for another show. After seeing four comedians in two weeks, we decided to skip the show. Jon brought his laptop and we went to the library where he could copy my photos from the week that I had backed up on my external hard drive. Oh...and of course we played a game of Wizards!
Jon had brought along the voyage log that had been left in his cabin. It contained a record of the distances and speeds the ship had traveled between each of the ports. He was laughing because the average speed to reach Half Moon Cay was listed at 91.1 knots. We were joking about being able to water ski behind the ship at that speed when we realized that Andrea (the assistant cruise director) was in the room and had overheard our conversation. She sheepishly confessed that it was her mistake.
There were still last minute things that needed to be packed so we said good night to Jon and Michelle at 9:30 pm. Once it was done, we put the two big bags in the hallway and went to bed. I crossed my fingers that my damaged luggage would survive just a little longer.
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