It’s better in the Bahamas!
Or so they say. There are over 700 islands in this nation archipelago, so “better” is absolutely a matter of relativity. However, there are some features that apply to the area in general; the water is clear and an average of 80 degF all year long, the beaches are awesome, and there are a high concentration of sharks both on land and off.
Cue Christopher Cross…Sailing, takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be…
Yesterday I gave an overview of our cruise ship, the MS Zuiderdam, on our Holland America 10 day cruise to the Panama Canal. Today I’ll focus on our first port-of-call, the beautiful Half Moon Cay (pronounced “key”) in the Bahamas.
As I mentioned in the last post, we ended up with a delayed boarding time at Port Everglades. I’m not sure if it was due to the delay or if HAL normally has a really quick check in and boarding system, but it had to be the easiest time I ever had getting through a cruise terminal. Once our shuttle from the Park and Ride dropped us at the entrance, we handed our luggage to a porter ($5 tip) and entered the building. Then there was the typical TSA security checkpoint, after which we climbed a flight of stairs and were directed into a very short waiting line for the check in desk.
Actually, we didn’t wait at all. The line moved so fast it was as if we just needed to walk through the little queue maze as a matter of procedure. We checked in, received our key cards, and waited in a non-crowded seating area for our boarding number to be called. I don’t think we waited any longer than 10 minutes, however, before we were walking up the gangway and aboard the ship.
The cabins weren’t ready for passengers yet, so we found a table near the Lido Deck Pool to wait until we departed. I spent my time knitting while my husband got a snack from the hamburger station. Once the announcement was made that cabins were ready, we dropped our carry-ons in the room and made our way to the going away party at the aft pool.
We were greeted by bar attendants offering yummy juice-based cocktails in souvenier glasses and each got one ($9.25 a piece). Then we walked around snapping pictures and enjoying the views of Port Everglades as we sailed away. Our brand-new sister ship, Nieuw Statendam, followed us out of port.
The next day, Day 2 of the cruise, we docked at Half Moon Cay at 8:00 am. Originally I was skeptical about this port. Half Moon Cay is a private island owned by the cruise lines. Thus, I thought it would be a small overcrowded beach amongst expensive jewellry stores and souvenier shops.
I was wrong. A tender took us ashore where my husband and I grabbed two really nice lounge chairs near the lifeguard station. We had plenty of shade under the trees that lined the beach, but we used sunscreen as a precaution. It was a great morning! The water was a brilliant turquoise blue. In fact, I didn’t touch up any color settings on my photos – the color is that amazing. The air temperature was perfect, but the water was a little cool for me. I spent most of my time people watching from my chair and sketching our boat.
Around 11:00, the cruise ship put out a fantastic barbeque, all part of our cruise package. We had to walk a little ways down the beach to get to the covered pavilion, but it wasn’t strenuous. We enjoyed fresh fruit and salad, fish, chicken and ice cream for dessert. There were covered picnic tables to sit at and free water, lemonade and tea. We were entertained by the local chickens while we dined.
We headed back to the line for the tender boat about 1:00 pm, though the ship wasn’t scheduled to depart until 3. It took us 20 to 30 minutes to get through the line and back aboard.
I had a really nice (and free!) beach day on Half Moon Cay. My recommendation, if you ever get the opportunity to go, is to simply enjoy the beach. We saw some people snorkeling but the area they were snorkling in didn’t look like it would have much to see. It was just down the beach from where we were sitting, right next to the tender dock. Other important notes:
We didn’t need to buy a beach umbrella. There was plenty of shade under trees.
I know the cruise lines offers other things to do for a fee, like horseback riding on the beach, but we didn’t see where any of that was. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t succumb to the idea of taking a paid excursion. We had plenty of fun without it.
There were also at least 3 bars in our little beach area where we could’ve purchased drinks, but we didn’t. I saw a sign for a Lobster Shack where I think you could buy food. But why would you when there’s an all-you-can-eat free barbeque? And I think there were a couple of stalls where you could buy souvenirs, but I didn’t visit them. I didn’t see any jewelry stores.
I’ll talk about Aruba and Curacao in my next post. It may be a week or so until I get to it; we’re leaving tomorrow on our next trip and it’s packed full of stuff to do. Blogging will be at the bottom of the list!
originally posted at annettezimmerman.com
