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Day 2 Nieuw Amsterdam cruise #HalfMoonCay

The next day after we sailed from Ft. Lauderdale, we woke up to amazing glass like seas at Holland America’s Half Moon Cay. We ate breakfast in the Lido buffet and quickly headed to the tenders when Andy our cruise director gave the ship the green light to leave the Nieuw Amsterdam.

Marty and I have visited Half Moon Cay (HMC) many, many, many, many times and it was great to return to the #1 rated private island awarded by Porthole Magazine year after year after year!

There are occasions when the seas and winds are too high for the tenders to get people safely off the ship for the 15 minute journey to HMC, so we are always grateful when we can spend the day at this incredible oasis!

The added bonus was that the Nieuw Amsterdam was anchored off the island from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. which gave us a whole day at HMC instead of just a few short hours like we’ve experienced previously.

If you’ve watched my numerous YouTube videos about Half Moon Cay, you know that my number 1 rule is to get off the ship as soon as possible to get the best beach lounge chairs!

(Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page and click on Scott Lara’s YouTube videos to see all my cruise videos, including my super secret Half Moon Cay tips!)

After Marty and I settled into our beach chairs, I took the short 5 minute stroll to Captain Morgan’s Bar.

I took the inside stairs up to the 2nd deck which provides a great birds eye view of the island and the ocean.

As I headed back to Marty, I took the opportunity to get in the water. Considering it was early November, I was surprised that the water was so warm.

After Marty and I enjoyed the beach for a while, we took a walk over to the Tropics Pavillion. As always, the crew served up a great BBQ lunch including Burgers, potato salad, desserts and refreshing drinks.

After a great summertime meal, we caught the free tram back to the Welcome Center, went through security and waited about 15 minutes to board the tender back to the ship.

Later that evening, we enjoyed the first of 2 formal night dinners in the Main Dining Room.

I’m so glad that the weather was absolutely perfect during our stay at Half Moon Cay.

Tomorrow we arrive in Grand Turk. It will be interesting to see how they are doing after this rough hurricane season.

Scott Lara @scottlara1961 on Twitter

 

 

About Scott Lara

President of MilitaryFares.com. Navy Veteran, Travel Agent, love to cruise!

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