Saturday, December 11, 2021
I love Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (9:00 – 2:30), Carnival Corporation’s private island. It is a beautiful, white powdery sand beach. There are a lot of excursions you can do – horseback riding in the surf, glass bottom boat ride, cabana rentals, swimming with stingrays, and snorkeling to name a few. But, having said all that, we opted not to get off the ship today. Why, you ask?
Today is the last day before disembarking the ship tomorrow. Since we are not staying on like a lot of people are for the next 10-day cruise, we have packing to do and I don’t like to pack sandy, wet clothes or snorkel gear. If I want to just get some sun, I can do that out by the ship’s pool. I really prefer going to HMC on the first day after a Ft. Lauderdale embarkation.
Pictures from previous visits to Half Moon Cay –
We slept late and had breakfast in the Lido. Again, the lines were reasonable and there were a lot of food choices. Really like the fresh pineapple. The only fruit that I have not liked is the honeydew melon. I didn’t think it had much taste, but I am not crazy about it even when it is sweeter.
We played some slots for quite a while and then I cashed out my “bank” – the amount of money I had left on my room key. For an 11-day cruise, I only lost $100. I felt pretty good about my casino gambling.
After the slot play, I got in some sun before having lunch in the Lido. But I could not put off the inevitable – time to pack up. If we didn’t know we had to pack up, the room stewards left a hint on the bed.
Once we decided what we would be wearing home tomorrow, I was able to divide all the stuff between the two bags that would be checked and the two smaller ones and the backpacks that we will carry on the plane. I watched “Young Frankenstein” with Gene Wilder while I packed. I hadn’t seen that movie in a long time. Still hilarious.
While I was packing, Chuck came to tell me that the Casino was hosting a mini-slot tournament and that anyone who had earned 100 points this morning playing slots was eligible to play in the tournament. Eligible players had until 8:00 to try their luck in the tournament. He checked our cards, and we were both eligible. He had already played, and he was in the “No 1” position. They are only going to award money to the top three. I stopped packing and went down to try my luck. I didn’t make the Top 10. Oh well. Keeping our fingers crossed that Chuck stays in first place.
We had a farewell drink at the Half Moon Cay bar. We really liked the two bartenders. We will mention them by name in the post-cruise survey. We’ve been reminded quite a lot today to please complete the survey when we receive it.
Tonight, Chuck had the beef short ribs. I had the wiener schnitzel. The piece of meat was huge. For most of the meals the portion sizes have been fine but tonight, it was just too much. I’ll remember not to order it again. We hate to waste food.
By the time dinner was over, it was almost 8:00 so we made our way back to the Casino. Chuck’s name was still first on the leaderboard. At 8:05, they called his name as the official tournament winner! Great way to end the cruise!
We attended the 9:00 set of the Rolling Stone Rock band. I have really enjoyed this venue. I wish all the ships had it. Decided to call it a night after the session. Have to put the two big bags outside the door before midnight. We’ll pick them up in the terminal tomorrow.
No towel animal tonight.
Tomorrow – Disembarkation and Travel Home
Travel Trivia*
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
Located in the Bahamas approximately 100 miles southeast of Nassau.
The 2400-acre island official name is Little San Salvador.
The Cay was purchased by Holland America (Carnival’s subsidiary line) in 1996 for $6 million.
It features a 2-mile-long stretch of a white sandy beach curved outwards on each end forming a half moon shape, hence its name.
It is a wild bird preserve designated by the Bahamian National Trust
*Trivia provided by Wikipedia and Holland America literature
Fondest Travel Memories 