Merry Christmas one and all! Ho-ho-ho!
If there was an ideal place to spend Christmas, the private island of Half Moon Cay would be one of our picks. While we were enjoying breakfast mimosas (one of us has switched to a poinsettia with champagne and cranberry juice), we watched as the ship sailed into the bay of this tiny island. The weather could not have been better, with temps in the high 70's and perfectly clear, blue skies. Not a cloud in sight. Knowing that combination could be dangerous as far as sun exposure goes, we decided to play it safe, and not spend all of our time in the water or sunbathing. A little at a time is best.
Back at our room, we found one blue waterproof HAL bag, which can be used to pack our blue and white HAL towels to the island today. In addition, we had a stack of white masks. These are not the same re-usable cloth masks with the HAL logo we got in Alaska.
The ship was cleared after 8am, but we waited until closer to 10am to take the island's large tender boat to shore. These vessels can hold up to 200 guests, and are much easier to access. The waters in this bay are pristine blue to turquoise – picture perfect. The Carnival Corporation has really developed this property over the years. Way back when we had our first stop here (may be almost 20 years ago), there were a few kiosks for souvenirs, a large dining area for the outdoor lunch, water toys for rent, horseback riding, and lagoon activities. Plenty of complimentary chaise lounges lined the beach. All that is still here, but now there are cabanas, beach villas, and one Private Oasis….all available for a hefty price starting from $450 to $1400. And that may be the price per person. Butler service can be addition like $100 to $270. Keep in mind, we were only here for about 6 hours. But this is the final port of this 7 day trip, and many folks might think….what the heck. The last tender boat to leave the island was at 2:30pm.
Following the map of the island, we found the trail that led to the kayak and glass bottom boat rides in the inner lagoon. Jet skis were there as well. It appeared that each tour group had a guide, and you were not allowed to go off on your own. Close to this venue was the sting ray swim adventure. The rays are screened in a large area where guests access the water to swim with them. One of the island's large transport, an open-air 18 person truck, drove the guests here. Many younger kids were in the group, and we knew this tour would be thrilling for them.
Continuing on, we located the Nature Trail where we saw mostly mangrove growth, a few indigenous tress, and a couple of blue-tailed lizards. Fairly deep sand sort of slowed the walking for one of us. We came out to the road that led us to the horse stables. Now this is where things got interesting. A few of the extra horses were near the railings, so we walked over to see them. We should have remembered that we were walking through some pretty noxious grasses, that left at least one million sticky burrs on our shoes and socks. Good grief…..it would take 20 minutes to pick them off. The tiny thorns were sharp enough to penetrate the soles of our shoes. Oh well, kind of made our day to be able to pet the horses, one of which was chewing on the wooden railing.
A bit further up this road, we found the area where the horseback riding began. There were benches and a small building with lockers for the riders to stash their stuff. While sitting on a picnic bench, a lone donkey wandered over to us, and began looking for food, we think. No, we had no food, but we did have very sharp stickers to clean off. Of course, we pet him, and he never left. Even when we got up to leave, he followed us to the sandy beach. He was convinced our HAL bag had some goodies for him. Aren't animals great?
With our shoes off, we walked the soft sandy surf back towards the Pirate Ship Bar. The water felt so good, we said the next time we come, which is Monday, we might go for a swim. Finally at the Pirate Ship, we went inside and had two frozen Margaritas. Boy, were they ever so good. The second round, one of us tried a frozen strawberry dacquari. Made with spiced rum, now this is my favorite drink. Can't believe I never tried one before. The bartender announced the last call for alcohol around 1:15pm. The staff began cleaning everything up, which surprised us. Guess they want to make sure everyone makes that last tender.
Passing the outdoor cafeteria, we found that it had been completely cleaned also. We had missed lunch here again, but we knew where we could find food on the ship….like everywhere. On the way to the tender boat, we had to pass through security. No need to do that on the ship. Our keycards were not scanned onshore. We relaxed on the top deck while waiting for more people to board. Within a few minutes, we were back onboard the ship.
Lunch for us was in the Lido, with a stop at the Dive In Grill for one burger, fries, and a hot dog. That took maybe 20 minutes, even though they did not appear to be that busy. The Captain blew the horn by 3pm for at least 20 seconds while he sailed away from the island. Like we said, we will be back here on Monday with mostly a whole new group of people.
Christmas dinner for us was one entrée of steak and lobster, and one meal of sliced ham. For dessert, one of us had a pumpkin tart, and the other the Christmas snowman, which was the white chocolate mold filled with a chiffon cream.
Back in our room, we had the new small "Journeys" booklet with a sticker of the N. Statendam's itinerary for this cruise. There is room for 15 more stickers. Also, last night we received a letter of instruction for tomorrow's procedures for in transit guests. Breakfast will be at 6:30 to 8:30am, and we will need to disembark by 9:15am. We will fill in the details tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, December 26, 2021
Report #8 Half Moon Cay December 25, 2021 Saturday Sunny & 75 degrees
