Day 02 11/22/21 - Half Moon Cay


Overnight the Rotterdam sailed at over 20 knots in order to make up for the 2 hour and 10 minute delay in our departure yesterday.  The Captain said we passed the Nieuw Statendam which would arrive a couple hours later than us.  It actually arrived about an hour later but we still got first pick of the beaches.


 

We took one of the large island tenders to shore, did a little shopping, and then walked about 45 minutes north to the snorkeling location we discovered a month ago when we were here.  The snorkeling was okay with fish sightings about the same as last time.  Afterwards, we hiked back to the island barbecue and enjoyed a nice lunch.

 

Sister ships with Rotterdam on the left and the Nieuw Statendam on the right.  They are the same size despite the photography.

 


We were back on the ship around 2pm and after a quick salt removing shower, I went up to the Crow's Nest to watch the sail away and edit my snorkeling video.  Our 2:30pm departure time came and went before the Captain announced on the PA system that a couple missed the last tender and we're still on the island.  About 20 minutes later a tender arrived and just as quickly departed.  With a full passenger load, our departure began with the ship turning around and the two ships dueling with their ship's horns.

 

It was a gala night but we decided to forego dinner in the main dining room and had a simple but quick dinner in the Lido before attending the Captain's toast.  HAL has returned the tradition of the Captain introducing his senior staff which I really like.  The entertainment was Cantarè which was a quartet of harmonizing guys.  They were really very good, so we returned for their 9:30pm performance.  

 

We had learned that the pretzels at the NY Deli at 9pm weren't to be missed so we went there and enjoyed a pretzel while watching the end of the Monday night football game. The flavor of pretzels is dependent upon what the baker decides to deliver.

 

 

 

Tonight our clocks get set ahead one hour so we lose an hour.  But we have nothing planned for the morning so we'll likely sleep in.  The ships is scheduled to arrive at 2pm at Amber Cove and we have a snorkeling trip planned.  Stay tuned.



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