Cruising into Twenty - Twenty two : Something old and something Nieuw

[scubacruiserx2]

Breakfast was at 7:30 and we were on time and raring to go and see what the day would bring .

 

Apricots and Eggs Benedict with Corned beef hash and Hash Browns 

 

 

The ship's announcements for HMC

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Half Moon Cay was known as Little San Salvador when it was purchased in 1996 by HAL . It lies about half way between Eleuthera on the West ( Which operates Princess Cay on that island ) and Cat Island on the East ( Home to Sydney Portier ) . Most of the workers on the island when the cruise ships are in port are from the island of Eleuthera about 29 miles away . HAL didn't give any port guides on this trip so we will use the guide from our last trip here 2 years ago .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We had seen a Princess ship in the distance break away from us earlier headed in the direction of Princess Cay leaving us alone for the day in HMC .

 

 

We returned to the cabin after breakfast finding that the balconies were already open and ready to be pressure washed .

 

Fearing that it might be too much action for our old hearts to take , we changed cameras and went to  watch the tenders going ashore and make up our minds to go ashore or not . Should we stay or should we go ?  But not before unpacking and refrigerating some wine for New Years Eve later on .

 

This brings us to Trip tip # 5 We have used these many times including Transatlantic flights and never had a fail .

 

 

 

 

It was a bit bumpy with the wind from the South .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[rkacruiser]

On 1/12/2022 at 5:00 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

We do love the Tamarind and wish that they would offer a pop up Tamarind on the ships that don't currently have a dedicated one .

 

Like your suggestion, but, I wonder, what makes Tamarind successful on the ships that have that restaurant?  Chefs particularly trained to prepare that type of cuisine?  If so, it might not be feasible for the other ships to offer Tamarind as a "pop-up".  

 

Considering you question, however, what makes the Sel de Mer pop-ups that are offered on the Rotterdam, Vista, and Signature Class ships so much like the stand alone restaurant on Nieuw Statendam?  
 

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Apricots and Eggs Benedict with Corned beef hash and Hash Browns 

 

 

One of my favorite breakfasts on HAL!  

[scubacruiserx2]

10 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

One of my favorite breakfasts on HAL!  

 

We don't get semi fresh apricots very often so they're a favorite . We hope to meet # 1 grandson for an Eggs Benedict brunch after seeing the knee Doctor for a routine visit this morning for Pat . I'll never make it until then so a lite breakfast is up first followed by a hobbit - style second breakfast after the Doctor visit .

[scubacruiserx2]

We had made our call on the visit to HMC and we opted to jump off of the rat race treadmill and enjoy a relaxing , quite day - something that we don't usually do much of . The idea of being herded into cattle boats ( diver speak for an over crowded , impersonal and mass produced diving experience ) in a non-socially distanced pandemic era didn't appeal to us . Since we had traded our HMC cabana for a onboard retreat , we decided that's the way to go for us . We do enjoy some of the uncrowded views in HMC and we did enjoy our Lobster Shack meal in the last visit but not the experience with the crowd so much . A few photos from our last visit there .

 

 

This photo was from our Westerdam visit in 2012 and some of the cabanas were under construction .

Edited January 14, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We headed down to the Retreat for lunch and to watch the tenders come and go and to order some lunch from the menu .

 

 

The guys told us that the Dive in wasn't open yet and suggested that we start with dessert and we like their style . It was great to see that the pool cover was open for business - but not busy .

 

 

 

Pat started with a cherry Pavlova that she said was the best that she ever had .

 

 

The Pecan pie was excellent also 

 

 

I had a High Dive for lunch while Pat had the Portabella Freestyle

 

 

The guys suggested a photo and it's a good thing that we didn't look until later or we may have lost our lunch . It had been a busy 24 period and with an impending food coma setting in , we decided to nap it off . Maybe the beauty rest could help .

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Well the beauty rest didn't work any better than I have for the past 17 years . And by the time we woke up the Cruise Critic M&G which was scheduled for sail away had past us by . For NYE we had originally booked NY dinner at the Pinnacle .

 

But when the menu was published we were less enthusiastic

 

 

The MDR menu on the ship was for the 1st Gala night and featured Surf and Turf that could be delivered to the room gratis instead of $81 .40 pp . The cabin option also included a sunset outside of our balcony and ring side seats to the Cotton Bowl featuring Alabama vs Cincinnati . Following that was the Orange Bowl from Miami with Georgia vs Michigan which lasted almost through midnight . Our children grew up in a Bi-Peninsular family with one parent from a cold place surrounded by fresh water who swam competitively , including in college and fished the lakes all their life . The other parent was from a warm place surrounded by salt water who played football and loved to surf , snorkel and play in the ocean . They both loved to SCUBA and their respective states both entered the union one after the other with their marriage date falling on one of the states admission to the Union . Their kids grew up thoroughly and comfortably Bi-Peninsular . So it was the Midwest vs the South in football so how could we possibly miss the games ? Additionally , the cash savings funded our next days excursion , lunch and entertainment .

 

The sunset didn't disappoint 

 

 

And the knock on the door brought mounds of food prepared for our dining pleasure  

 

 

All of the starters and the dessert were excellent but both of the main courses were lacking a bit .

 

  

Edited January 14, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Travel tip # 6 - power to the people 

We say a table full of power strips with cords which are not allowed on the ship for fire safety reasons . We have never had a problem with this charging block on land , the air or on sea . We take adaptors and can charge 2 USB and 3 110 outlets from 1 outlet in the wall . At the push of the white button the head rotates from horizontal to vertical .

[scubacruiserx2]

We had a quite ending to 2021 with some snacks and wine that we brought from home .

We were looking forward to a new day and new and better year in Grand Turk . We wish all the best for everyone this year everywhere .

 

[ski ww]

And a belated Happy New Year to you.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

And a belated Happy New Year to you.

 

At 46 F this morning here in South it feels like New Year's here . We hope that you are in a beachy day mood as that was what we got in Grand Turk .

[puppycanducruise]

Love the food porn, too bad everything didn't taste as good as it looked.

[scubacruiserx2]

27 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

Love the food porn, too bad everything didn't taste as good as it looked.

 

We do love food and sharing it through photos . Unfortunately the Veal medallions we tough and unseasoned . I've had Surf and Turf a lot but never on pureed cauliflower and boiled carrots . It also had gravy and was very chewy . The filet in the Pinnacle was excellent . We don't know if it was a different grade of meat and we think that chef preparing it was better as well . Maybe we expected too much - but it was a Gala night and on New Years Eve .

[scubacruiserx2]

 For me the best day begins with breakfast and even Pat adopts this philosophy - when we're on a cruise ship .

 

Pat went for the Eggs Benedict

 

 

And I went the international route with an English Pork Banger and Swedish Pancakes 

 

 

The Nieuw Amsterdam mural on the way back to the cabin .

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by scubacruiserx2
mistake

[scubacruiserx2]

Mistake

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by scubacruiserx2
mistake

[scubacruiserx2]

After returning to the cabin we surveyed the previous night's offerings

 

 

The work desk

 

 

Next stop - Grand Turk . Grand Turk is about 7 miles long and has a population of about 5,000 . It is said that Christopher Columbus may have made land fall here . The US had a Missile Impact Location System here and John Glenn , the first American to have orbited the Earth , landed nearby in February 20 ,1962 .

 

 

We were ahead of the Carnival Magic but it seemed like the Captain slowed the ship to allow the Magic to arrive first .

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We got a look at the island of Grand Turk as we pulled in next to the Carnival Magic 

 

 

 

We saw a fish near the surface and behind the Magic . We think that it was a Mahi Mahi .

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

I went the international route with an English Pork Banger and Swedish Pancakes 

 

HAL's Swedish Pancakes are absolutely delicious and are as good as what I remember eating on Royal Viking Sky many years ago.  Why do they serve syrup with them when they have the delicious sauce?  I don't even need to use the butter that is served, either.  

[scubacruiserx2]

The Magic looked close enough to touch

 

 

A side order of hot tubs

 

 

A look at the Water Works

 

 

A tail of the Whale Part 1

 

 

Forward to the port

 

 

Almost ready to go ashore

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Off to the races

 

 

Cruise Center logjam

 

 

End run right and breathing free air

 

 

Tale of the Whale part 2

 

 

Whale eye view

 

 

Beached behemoths

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Maps of the cruise center and the island

 

 

 

Story of the Mercury 7

 

 

Statue of John Glenn who orbited the earth almost 60 years ago in the Friendship 7 .We needed one of those portable Air Conditioners later in the cruise .

 

 

Next stop the taxi stand

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We made our way to the Taxi stand and let the first one go by as we made our request to the expediter . We wanted to stop at a certain point and he said that it was no problem . As it was NY day some places were closed . The Taxi was about a 12 passenger van which was more like a Jitney than a Taxi . We set in the 2nd row thinking that we would be let off first and made our request for a stop to the driver . The price was $5.00 pp which is 100 X's what the original jitneys cost at nickel a head and gave them the name Jitney which was slang for a nickel . We passed by our stop and dropped off all of the people at the downtown area of Cockburn and picked up a new batch of people headed further North to a beach where they could ride horses on the beach . All except 2 got out . We reminded the driver of where we wanted to get out and he stopped on the way back to the port . Thus we got a mini tour of the island . We were still early and neither of the places that we wanted to eat at were open . We stopped at our usual dive shop and they were closed .

 

 

The weather was still pleasant and mostly shady along the way

 

 

We stopped at the house that the lighthouse keeper lived in and was built by him back in the 1850's . The Light house was built back in London of cast iron and was shipped to Grand Turk where it was reassembled . It is 60' tall and still stands and works at the North end of the island .

 

 

We stopped at lunch B location and enjoyed the beach and view . It was nice , quite and uncrowded - just what we wanted . We chatted with some visitors from Illinois who were going snorkeling .

 

 

Lunch B location

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

The day's menu

 

 

The grill

 

 

Turk's Head Lager

 

 

The crowd and the big picture