We missed being on Half Moon Cay twice on the last two visits. Having been exposed to me (Covid at the time), Bill was not allowed to go ashore. Then we were gone for 10 days, but no one was allowed there due to unusually high winds. So we are looking forward to our time there today.
At breakfast in Club Orange, we asked Wayan, the assistant maitre'd, if he was going to be busy on the island today. He said of course, and he was taking "his boys" over there very soon. Girls, too, we assume. We should see him organizing lunch at the island's buffet.
Passing through the Casino on the way to the middle elevator, we were surprised to see that it was opened for business. Not the shops or the bars, just the Casino. It must be one of the few places where it is legal to do so. When we reached deck A, there was a wait of 15 minutes before we boarded the tender. It appeared that the seating and railings were being sanitized. Can't be too careful for us. Could not help but notice that a pair of crew members, perhaps entertainers, were mask-less. Surprised no one said anything to them. Entering the island before 11am, we were still too early for the food court to be opened. So, we could not take a couple of apples for Ted, the donkey. Darn, he sure liked that.
We saw Monte and Margaret from Alabama on the beach walk, enjoying the sand and sun like us. They said they will still follow our blog when they get home…almost like being there.
Another lady approached us and asked if we were part of the President's Club group at the Mariner's gathering yesterday. Yes, we were, and with that she said that she and her husband were close to 700 days and their platinum medal. She asked if we would be willing to share the info concerning the perks that come with being a member of President's Club. Sure, no problem, but her first statement was that we looked too young to have achieved this status, followed with how old are you two? And are you retired? Really? Questions like that sort of hit you between the eyes, if you know what we mean. If we were thinking faster, we could have made up a crazy number. Raised to tell the truth, mid 70's came out, although pointing to me, Bill said 22. Really? Normally he would say 92, just kidding. Her guess was 52 – she must have had too much sun today. Yeah close, but she missed it by 20 years. Turning the tables, we asked how old she was. Definitely showing surprise, she admitted to mid-70's as well. With all of that nonsense out of the way, we told her the perks we get. She had heard the number of days needed for this group was 1000. Impressed, she said they would never make it to that magic number of 1400 pure sea days. Funny, that's exactly what we said years ago. And here we are……
Continuing on, we made it to the very end of the sandy beach where the volcanic rocks are located. No hiking beyond that point, although we have heard that snorkeling there is pretty good. Stopping at the corrals on the way back, we found the horses were roaming freely, reminding us of the song "Who Let the Dogs Out?" Ted, the friendly donkey, was standing all alone at the corrals. Too bad we had no apples to feed him….maybe next time.
That's when it began to sprinkle, heavy drops at first, then a light drizzle. Actually felt nice. We stayed under the corral overhang until it let up, cooling the air nicely. Next stop was the Pirates Bar where we ordered a frozen Margherita and one strawberry daiquiri. So good. The bar staff was friendly today, as they were in the process of closing up the "ship", and loading the leftovers to be brought back to the big ship. Except for a small staff that come here from a nearby Bahamian island, all of the servers are from the ship.
Back to the courtyard, we bought one ladies sweatshirt with the Half Moon Cay logo on it. It is lightweight and stretchy, and will work well at home. There were no zippered sweatshirts for men. All of the charges in the logo shops go directly to your shipboard account. They also added a 10% local Bahamian tax. Any items that were locally made like the straw items and wood carvings are cash only purchases.
You need to pass your bags and yourself through xray before entering the tender boat back to the mother ship. Once back on the ship, our room cards were scanned.
Time for lunch at the Dutch Café, where Barb and Susie were relaxing at a table, we ordered our sandwiches, hot & crispy French fries, and two slices of apple pie, Dutch-style. Two beers helped cool us down as well.
Spent the rest of the afternoon in the room after the ship left the island after 3pm. Since our room was facing west, the veranda was hot-hot-hot. Once we began to sail, it cooled down enough to relax and enjoy the sun going down. Another nice day spent on a beautiful little island.
Dinner was the Culinary Council choices, a one-time event at the end of every cruise. Some of the appetizers were coconut-crusted shrimp salad, and a zucchini soup with shredded apples. Barb had the crab cakes, then we all ordered prime rib. Woody and Susie had gone to the World Stage show tonight, and dined earlier. Right before we were served the entrees, they showed up and joined us for dessert. Really enjoying the performance, they recommended we see it. Wonder if the 9:30pm show will ever return? Tomorrow we will receive the online survey, so we might bring up some of these issues. Who knows…maybe someone is really reading the comments.
Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow and another new start.
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Report #57 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas Saturday- February 12, 2022 Mostly cloudy, then mostly sunny with passing showers.. 80 Degrees
