Day 7: Half Moon Cay...or not

Prepared Monday evening, November 4th

The Nieuw Amsterdam pitched and rolled all night long, and every time we woke, it seemed our hopes of being able to tender into Half Moon Cay were diminishing. Still, early this morning, we saw spots of sunlight on the water and became momentarily hopeful. We were in the Lido Buffet enjoying an early breakfast (tendering was scheduled to begin at 8am) when the captain came on the PA and made the not-unexpected announcement that, due to the storm front that had moved in, and the forecast that showed no signs of improvement, there would be no stop today at Half Moon Cay for the Nieuw Amsterdam.

Well, shoot.

Any port, but especially tender ports, can be missed due to weather or other reasons. We're not supposed to get mad about it, but disappointment is a reasonable response. And we were disappointed...for an hour or so. But then the realization dawned that we had been so busy exploring the Royal Princess that we really hadn't slowed down since we left home. Or for months before that. A down day was just what we needed.

Breakfast in the Lido Buffet on HAL ships is always a feast. I had an egg beater omelet with shrimp and sweet peppers and onion and a large bowl of fruit. G enjoyed the no-extra-charge freshly squeezed OJ, and pineapple, grapefruit and mango juices. He returned to our cabin with a travel mug filled with his own fruit blend to enjoy later in the day.

We took a few minutes after breakfast to explore the pool area on the back of the Lido Deck (large pool, two hot tubs and lots of loungers) and the mid-ship pool area (large pool, three hot tubs and a retractable glass roof). Then we ventured into the fitness and spa areas where there is a free use sauna for each gender but the steam room is part of a relaxation spa and is extra charge. This ship is very similar in layout to the Noordam that we were on last winter, and, although much larger, not dissimilar to the Maasdam we were on in 2010.

Back in our cabin, I did some hand washing of the last two day's clothes and gave myself a quick manicure while I water tested my iPhone's Lifeproof case for the first time in months (still water tight!). It was nice to take care of some housekeeping duties.

It was so windy and rough that the beautiful, wide Promenade Deck that wraps around the Nieuw Amsterdam on Deck 3 had been closed off to passengers. Still, we enjoyed using our own balcony until lunchtime. I've decided a balcony is perfect for doing my nails...G didn't complain once about the smell, and the ottoman covered with a pool towel made a nice foot prop for a pedicure.

By noon we were starting to feel a bit hungry, and, once again, G thought the Manhattan Dining Room was the right option. When we opened our cabin door to go there, we noticed that a revised Explorer (the daily activities guide) had been delivered to our mail slot, reflecting the addition of several activities as a result of our unscheduled day at sea. We took it with us to view at lunch...but, honestly, we were enjoying being lazy for the first time in months.

The food we've been served in the dining room has been incredible. I had roasted vegetables with goat cheese as a starter, then a cold triple berry minestrone followed by a vegetarian entree that were all delicious. Service has not been as slow as we've experienced in the past on HAL, though we did spend two hours at lunch. We had been seated with a couple of about our ages from Arizona and we all just "clicked". Lazy lunches and good conversation are some of the best parts of sea days!

I returned to the gym to enjoy the luxury of a mid-afternoon stint on a treadmill. The fitness center is surprisingly well equipped with some excellent weight machines. While it had been busy this morning when we peeked in, by mid afternoon I nearly had it to myself.

We were in the Manhattan Dining Room before 6pm for dinner. What has most impressed us about the Nieuw Amsterdam compared to our previous HAL cruises is the service in the dining room. What had been painfully slow on the Maasdam and Noordam is very well paced on this ship. And the food has been incredible. I am ordering four courses at every meal just to taste a bit of everything, because I truly can't choose between all the options. The presentation and the quality is a step up from Princess, and we're loving it. Champagne was served with dessert tonight, a Holland America tradition when a port has to be skipped due to weather. It's a nice gesture; we'll also get our port charges for Half Moon Cay refunded.

The featured entertainment tonight in the theater is a ventriloquist. Gag. Instead, we took a few minutes to book a ship's excursion in Cozumel and buy a Future Cruise Deposit for Holland America (our first ever- they didn't used to be refundable and we never wanted to commit $100 per person, but now they are and so we did). We then enjoyed the "sophisticated classical music" of the Adagio duo (violin and piano) in the Explorer Bar, and the not-so sophisticated solo guitar music presented by Brad in the Crows Nest. The Piano Bar is featuring a Beatles Name that Tune later this evening, and that's a final possibility.

We love love love being entertained by talented musicians and HAL offers that in spades

The weather, which had added rain to the wind by lunch time, never did clear today. We're cruising south and west around Cuba and hope to sail though this by tomorrow. The ship is much more stable tonight, and our cabin is not moaning and groaning as it was last night. I see that as a good sign we'll see the sun tomorrow. And a strong indicator of a good night's sleep tonight!

Photo 1: Got hangers? Yes...so many there's no room to hang clothes on them. ;-)

Photos 2-4: crepes and waffle station in the Lido Buffet and the decorations made out of bread

Photo 5: the retractable glass roof over the main Lido pool, which makes this area so cozy and usable even in inclement weather.

Photo 6: Holland America has such classy looking china. Every dish is served with their traditional logo in the 12 o'clock position.

Photo 7: tonight's towel animal was a stingray. :-)

Half Moon Cay (continued)

If a picture is worth 1000 words, then a video is worth 1000 pictures.

Enjoy!

Posted with low speed wifi on Grand Turk. But with a beer and a breeze and beach sand underfoot, who needs speed?

Life is good.

Day 32: Half Moon Cay

Prepared Saturday December 8th

We were awake early today, well before 7am. Of course, we were asleep by 9pm last night, tired after a busy "moving day".  When we first arrived in the buffet for breakfast, there were just a handful of us there. But we were supposed to be at Half Moon Cay at 8am, and we wanted to be ready to go and to get a tender ticket as soon as they started handing them out. 

We love Holland America's buffet for breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice (which is extra cost on Princess), nine different kinds of juices, seven different variations of eggs Benedict made to order, ingredients such as crab meat, Brie and artichokes in the made to order omelets, and coffee from beans (not syrup) leaves Princess's buffet breakfast offerings in the dust. Granted, the drink service is far more limited than on Princess; we had to get our own juices and coffee refills today.  But there are certainly a lot of food and beverage options to choose from.  It is more confusing to us newbies...there are various food stations located in the buffet:  omelets, juices, cereals, waffles and general breakfast items. We eat breakfast in stages, as we have to wander a bit to get everything we want. 

We were dining at a table near the Lido Pool when the captain made at an announcement at 7:45am saying that there was a chance we might not be able to tender to Half Moon Cay today. Another Holland America ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, was already at anchor and had gotten the best spot for anchoring, either by getting there first or being the slightly larger ship (I couldn't totally understand what the Dutch captain said). Apparently there were large ocean swells that could prevent a safe anchoring and tendering process for the Noordam. 

Once again, Seinfeld provided the best response. I looked at G and said, "I don't like the sound of THAT". 

Honestly, on this entire itinerary, I was most looking forward to Half Moon Cay. Yes, having to miss ports is always a possibility on cruises, but that doesn't mean I couldn't be disappointed if we did. 

We finished breakfast and went up to the Crows Nest on Deck 11 forward. The Crows Nest is kind of like Skywalkers on the Emerald Princess in that it is on the top of the ship and with floor to ceiling windows and expansive ocean views. However, while Skywalkers is at the back of the Emerald, the Crows Nest is at the front of the Noordam. With leather seating and ottomans, it's a comfortable place to spend an hour- or half a day. Our goal was to get a good view of what was going on. We could see the Nieuw Amsterdam tendering its passengers over to Little San Salvador Island, and could also see the long, crescent beach of Half Moon Cay. 

I was almost afraid to consider how devastated I'd be if we had to miss the island, especially as we knew passengers from the other ship were already there. Thankfully, luckily, after about an hour the captain made another announcement stating that we'd be able to tender after all. We rushed back to our cabin to change into swimsuits and collect the beach bag we'd already packed. 

Tender tickets, which group passengers based on tender capacity, were being handed out in the Queens Lounge.  We first had to figure out where the heck that was. It's a bit like moving to a new city. No matter how well we know the Emerald Princess, here it's all new to us. Once we had our tender tickets, we waited just a few minutes until our number was called to board. But, in that short period of time, a passenger came over to me and said my name, questioningly. It was a amazing coincidence. Before we had even left home, I was emailed by someone following my blog. It was the day I posted about moving to the Noordam during the Emerald dry dock. Rob introduced himself and said that he and his wife and friends of theirs were also going to be on this cruise and would like to get together for drinks on board. He gave his cabin number, but we hadn't had a chance to connect yet. Well, he recognized G's ever-present yellow shirt, blue swim shirts and Tilley hat from the photos in my blog from last winter and took a chance that it was us. Amazing...on a ship with 1900 people, we connected the first morning of the cruise by being assigned to the same tender boat. I can't wait to meet up for drinks!

On our two previous visits to Half Moon Cay, while on the 1250 passenger Maasdam, we were the only ship in port and the beach felt empty. Not so today. Between the 1900 passenger Noordam and the 2100 passenger Nieuw Amsterdam, nearly every one of the thousands of loungers was filled. By the time we arrived on the island at about 10:40am, most of the ones in the shade were already taken. We finally found two together close to the lunch pavilion and set ourselves up for the day. It didn't take more than five minutes for me to inflate a float and enter the water. Wow, that is one beautiful beach, possibly the prettiest I've ever seen. The sand is like powdered sugar, the beach entrance as gradual as can be, and I could go out nearly to the edge of the swim area before it was over my head.  The gorgeous blue water is crystal clear with a view of the bottom everywhere. 

I wished I could stay there forever. 

That must be a common thought, because there's even a beach bar, called the "I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever" bar. 

:-)

Only 15 miles from Princess Cays, Hurricane Sandy also passed right over Half Moon Cay. As with Princess Cays, we could see the damage to vegetation, but that was the only sign of the storm that I noticed. Unlike Princess Cays with its many palm trees, Half Moon Cay has almost none.  Although the beach at Half Moon Cay is better in every way than that at Princess Cays, aside from the actual beach, I think Princess Cays is actually the prettier resort.

But, let's face it...it's really all about the beach itself. 

We were at Half Moon Cay for about 4 1/2 hours today, and I spent all but about 30 minutes either in the water or walking round trip the entire length of the beach, barefoot along the water's edge (which is so long it takes about 80 minutes). It simply doesn't get any better than that. 

We ate lunch from the BBQ on the beach- chicken and ribs and grapes. There was a lot more to choose from, but we wanted it limit it to easily eaten finger foods, as we couldn't bear to leave the beach and sit at a picnic table to eat with silverware. The last tender back to the ship was at 3:30pm; we must have been on the second last one when we boarded our return tender at 3:20pm. 

It's an understatement to say it was a perfect day because it was much better than that. 

Still, it's always a joy to return to our clean cabin and get showered. Although tonight was a formal night, we're not planning to do them this cruise, and dressed in tropical wear to dine in the buffet. We both started with made-to-order pastas (garlic!  I always want lots of garlic!) and then I had a shrimp entree with steamed broccoli and sautéed cabbage and lemon sherbet for dessert. And decaf coffee.  I'm savoring the real brewed coffee served on Holland America. 

After dinner, we went up to the Crows Nest to enjoy listening to singer-guitarist Johnny Champagne play. We love this sort of entertainment...acoustic guitar, small venue, friendly interaction between musician and audience; it's a standard Holland America offering. At 8pm, we went to the Vista Theater for the captain's champagne welcome just prior to tonight's production show. HAL does this differently than Princess; instead of a party in the Piazza, we were handed a flute of champagne as we walked into the Vista Theater. The cruise director introduced the captain, who introduced the senior officers. A toast, and then the production show (a tribute to dance) followed.  Shall I mention that Holland America is not known for its production shows?  I guess I won't need to now...  :-/. It very much reminded me of that champagne lady on the old Lawrence Welk show with the puffy, full skirted dresses. My grandparents would have loved it. Me?  Well, I'll be kind:  the singers and dancers seemed quite talented. 

Afterwards, we walked the length of Deck 2, the primary entertainment deck, to see the different venues.  Frankly, we were amazed at the quantity of offerings. In the piano bar, pianist Lee had a packed audience singing along, the HALCats were playing music of the 50s and 60s in the Queens Lounge. The string quartet (which, sadly, is no longer a feature on the Emerald Princess), played in the Explorers Lounge. And the guitarist and a band called Neptunes were playing elsewhere on the ship. For a ship with more than 1/3 fewer passengers than the Emerald, the entertainment options are impressive, even if the production show wasn't. 

Finally, it was 10:30pm and past time for bed. And I've written so much here tonight that it's well after midnight. Luckily, our arrival into Grand Turk tomorrow isn't until noon, and I can (hopefully) sleep in a bit.  If not, after another beach day tomorrow, I may be in bed before dinner!

Photo 1:  this pirate ship beach bar was under construction when we were here in November 2010

Photo 2:  I walked until I ran out of beach, and then watched the waves crash  

Photo 3:  looks like a Dos Equis commercial, doesn't it?

Photo 4:  boy, do I!!

Photo 5:  that is some clear water (and some big feet)