Paul & Libby's World of Travel » Bahamas

Day #2, Half Moon Cay

Paul — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:15:14 +0000

Today, we anchored (well, ok, technically we didn’t “anchor” — we just held our position with azipods) off the coast of Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, which is HAL’s private island destination. We’d stopped here before. It’s a pretty nice facility with white sand beaches and plenty of amenities ashore. Given that it was the first day of the cruise, we were only scheduled to be here into the early afternoon, and our fellow guests are fairly advanced in age, only a modicum of guests seemed to visit the island and even fewer made their way to frolic in the surf on the beach itself.

View of Zuiderdam from Half Moon Cay

For our part, we had a delightful time. I even rented a floating map ($10 for the day), which was from Frontgate and something I might invest in for when the pool is finished at home. We did have some rain showers pass through intermittently, but it wasn’t really an issue for us as they weren’t accompanied by lightning or thunder. Plus, it was both novel and fun to swim in the rain.

The ladies ate the included lunch at the Island BBQ (decent enough). I opted for the path less frequently taken to visit the “Lobster Shack” for Caribbean lobster roll ($13).

Lobster Shack vs. Island Barbeque

We’d planned on having dinner at the Pinnacle Grill, but the swells started to kick up as we sailed south. This caught us off guard, making Emerson motion sick before we could get Dramamine into her. So, we rebooked our fancy dinner for the following night and opted for the main dining room again in case we needed to leave early (which we did).

Day #2: Princess Cays, Bahamas

Paul — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:17:59 +0000

Today, we arrived at Princess’s private island destination, called the Princess Cays in the Bahamas (new country for Emerson). Following breakfast, Libby, Emerson and I took the short tender ride to shore. We picked out a couple of prime lounge chairs on the beach, slathered on the sunscreen, and then headed into the water.

Emerson had a blast in the water. I’ve been paying seemingly ridiculous rates for months at what Libby tells me is an “elite swim school” (whatever that means) for her. On this trip, I could finally see some return on our investment as she was far more comfortable and capable in the ocean than other kids around her age. All told, she spent the entire morning in the surf with us before heading back to the ship.

For lunch, we had pizza (IMHO, Princess offers the best at sea). We then headed back to our cabin to shower off the sand and salt, as well as to take an afternoon nap. Dinner was once again in the main dining room–Italian theme night–and generally very good. After dinner, we took Emerson to the Explorer’s Lounge to see/hear a vocalist perform.

Tomorrow’s a ‘relaxing’ day at sea…

Here’s a view of Princess Cays from our balcony.

And we’re off…

Paul — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:59:27 +0000

It’s time for the family Thanksgiving week cruise! We head down to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow morning…

7 Day Eastern Caribbean on Ruby Princess

We’ll be aboard the Ruby Princess, adding at least three new “countries” to the total (St. Martin, St. Maarten, and the Turks and Carcos). If I can pull it off, Libby and I might also try to make a run for Anguilla from St. Martin / St.Maarten as well, which would give us one more. Emerson, on the other hand, will bag at least five: she’s not been to the Bahamas nor the US Virgin Islands yet.

More to follow… I’ll try to write most days from the ship.