7 Day Tropical Caribbean on the Neiuw Statendam

[scubacruiserx2]

  It will be our Family holiday for the first time on HAL . Us , 3 kids and their husbands , wife and 3 grandsons ages 13-21 . HMC ,Grand Turk , Dominican Republic and Key West . Any ideas especially for the Grandsons ? All are Club Orange except us in the Neptune Suite .

[CruiserBruce]

Get a villa on HMC. Fun splurge for a group like yours.

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Get a villa on HMC. Fun splurge for a group like yours.

 

 We did book that along with a butler like we  had on the NCL Star in Antarctica . He was great . We saw them when they were being built in 2012 .

 

Edited April 23 by scubacruiserx2

[Haljo1935]

6 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

  It will be our Family holiday for the first time on HAL ...All are Club Orange except us in the Neptune Suite .

Welcome to HAL!

You will automatically get CO with your Neptune Suite. 

[0106]

The beach at Grand Turk is beautiful.  The younger folks may appreciate the excitement at Margaritaville.  However, I walk about 10 minutes down the beach to Jack’s Shack.  I’ve also done private snorkeling tours with Blue Water Divers.

 

Don’t hold your breath with Key West. It is frequently cancelled.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

Welcome to HAL!

You will automatically get CO with your Neptune Suite. 

 

 Thank you , but it's for the rest of the family .

[scubacruiserx2]

  

1 hour ago, 0106 said:

The beach at Grand Turk is beautiful.  The younger folks may appreciate the excitement at Margaritaville.  However, I walk about 10 minutes down the beach to Jack’s Shack.  I’ve also done private snorkeling tours with Blue Water Divers.

 

Don’t hold your breath with Key West. It is frequently cancelled.

  

 

 Thanks , we did charter a boat for snorkeling for everyone . We have 3 SCUBA divers but they may get bored watching us so we're all snorkeling @ Blue Water divers . There are a of couple nice places to eat lunch near there .

 We are the only ship on that date as we were in 2023 . Here we are at Mallory Square in Key West .

 

 

 

 This is where the locals gather to watch the sunset . We had a couple of late people that almost made us block the sunset which is why the natives get restless .

 

 

 We did move in time and it was a good one .

 

 

 

 Key West and the DR is where we mainly need some ideas . and help .

Edited April 23 by scubacruiserx2

[Heartgrove]

Something your grandsons might enjoy. We were on the Carnival Venezia in November and had a port call in Puerto Playa, DR. Our ship excursion was with Mega Adventures. We rode around the area in the back of 6x6 ex-Army trucks. They also offer zipline excursions.

[scubacruiserx2]

5 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

Something your grandsons might enjoy. We were on the Carnival Venezia in November and had a port call in Puerto Playa, DR. Our ship excursion was with Mega Adventures. We rode around the area in the back of 6x6 ex-Army trucks. They also offer zipline excursions.

 

 Thank you . We will run it past the kids and grandsons . One great thing for our son , DIL and 3rd grandson is that 2 of them are native Spanish speakers and our Son is fluent . DIL is from Peru . We speak survival Spanish and Russian . Were you in the Navy ? I was  a Corpsman in the early 70's . HAL gives a $ 100 credit but when we went to Antarctica on NCL this year they gave a 10 % price reduction on our Suite which is HUGE .

Edited April 24 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  A big mistake on my part . The tittle should read 7 Day Tropical Caribbean on the Nieuw Amsterdam .

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 Thank you . We will run it past the kids and grandsons . One great thing for our son , DIL and 3rd grandson is that 2 of them are native Spanish speakers and our Son is fluent . DIL is from Peru . We speak survival Spanish and Russian . Were you in the Navy ? I was  a Corpsman in the early 70's . HAL gives a $ 100 credit but when we went to Antarctica on NCL this year they gave a 10 % price reduction on our Suite which is HUGE .

 

We had a great time with Mega Adventures. I was in the Coast Guard late '60's to early '70's and was an Engineman. We have been sailing on MSC and they also offer 5%+5% discounts. Their Yacht Club is great!

[scubacruiserx2]

39 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

 

We had a great time with Mega Adventures. I was in the Coast Guard late '60's to early '70's and was an Engineman. We have been sailing on MSC and they also offer 5%+5% discounts. Their Yacht Club is great!

 

 

 Thank you for your service at a time when this country was divided over Vietnam . We saw a very good movie last night called Hacksaw Ridge . I had flash backs during of the movie but boot camp in the Navy was different . Our Company Commander was a Machinist Mate ( Engineman ? ) and I was in charge when he was gone called RCPO . He only spent the first night in boot camp to teach me what to do .

 We have heard good things about the Yacht Club from our TA . But we're still gaga over the suite on NCL and the cruise to Antarctica .

[scubacruiserx2]

22 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

 Thank you for your service at a time when this country was divided over Vietnam . We saw a very good movie last night called Hacksaw Ridge . I had flash backs during of the movie but boot camp in the Navy was different . Our Company Commander was a Machinist Mate ( Engineman ? ) and I was in charge when he was gone called RCPO . He only spent the first night in boot camp to teach me what to do .

 We have heard good things about the Yacht Club from our TA . But we're still gaga over the suite on NCL and the cruise to Antarctica .

 

 

   This is our suite on our upcoming cruise .

 

 

 

  And this was our Suite on the NCL Star in January

 

 

 

 

 In addition to the best cabin , we our best CC meet and greet ever held in the French dining room .

 

 

 

 If you would like a free trip to Antarctica on the NCL Star the review is here .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  This is why we like Grand Turk so much . Our lunch after diving .

 

 

 

Conch Fritters , Lobster , Shrimp and a local brew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are called Horse Eyed Jacks because of their large bulging eyes .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Some sights from Grand Turk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beach that we went to

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 A visit to Half moon Cay from the Nieuw Amsterdam

 

 

We had booked the Lobster lunch as our only plan . And to take some photos also . The tenders here were more roomy , safer and more open which was much nicer that being squeezed into the orange boats .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited April 26 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  We went ashore after the crowds had left the ship for the lobster lunch .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite breezy and the fancy paper plate tried to blow away . The wooden utensils may be eco friendly but they didn't cut it .

 

 

 

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Edited April 27 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  Returning to the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  

Friday October 28th , 2023 HMC 

 Less than a week later we were back at HMC with our grandson for his 20th birthday present , his first trip on HAL .

We were up early to pick a clam shell before it got busy so we were on the 1st Tender . The Nieuw Statendam was right behind us .

 

 

 

 

As soon as we got off we made a beeline to the rental place before it got very busy

 

 

 

 

The water was warm and clear and Pat and Tyler wanted to snorkel . I just took photos and guarded the clam shell as people were checking ours out and asking a lot of questions about it .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  

  Room for 2 in a clamshell

 

 

Nieuw Amsterdam on the rocks at HMC

 

 

The mats that people were using for floating and Pat and Tyler snorkeling for fish . They found some that a lady was feeding and a turtle also

 

 

The sister ships at HMC

 

 

Getting too crowded for us . We have some nice beaches in Florida but we don't go where the crowds are .

 

 

 A large number of people keep bugging us about our shell .  Pat did meet a couple of ladies from the other ship who had paid and got no shell . It's seems that HAL had sold more shells than were available . They seemed to be very nice so we asked at the rental area if we could leave them the shell and  she said OK so we waited until they got settled in the shell before we left at about 11 AM .

Edited Sunday at 10:00 AM by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  A look at HMC and a video of  the cabana and the beach Villa that we will be renting .

 

https://insightcruises.com/pdf/Half_Moon_Cay.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 02:53 PM by scubacruiserx2

[Haljo1935]

On 4/28/2024 at 4:55 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

  

 Room for 2 in a clamshell

...A large number of people keep bugging us about our shell...They seemed to be very nice so we asked at the rental area if we could leave them the shell and  she said OK so we waited until they got settled in the shell before we left at about 11 AM .

Although HMC wasn't crowded during our last visit, we also had a lot of people asking about our clamshell. Even had someone crawl in it while we were walking the beach - said they didn't notice our bags and towels 🤷‍♀️

We turned ours over to a couple who had not rented one, but wanted one.

I wish the clamshells had slits for air as it gets really hot in them. Great picture showing the 2 loungers inside.

[scubacruiserx2]

  So sorry that squatters moved in while you were gone ! We felt like we were playing a game of Survivor on the island for our clamshell , so that's why I stayed there . We're from Florida and we know about the heat in the shell so we stay away from the midday sun . We think they are used for the frequent pop up showers .

[scubacruiserx2]

 One of the things that we added to our future HMC Villa rental is a butler service . Our TA did this on their 1st HAL cruise , but when we looked at Youtube , we could not find any videos of this service which includes food and drinks . We hope to record some photos or a video when we go .

[scubacruiserx2]

  On a long cruise from Alaska to Ft. Lauderdale we met a group of people at the interdenominational church service . We agreed to also meet in the mornings at sea for a bible study . Near the end of the cruise we had the room for the group to meet for an afternoon tea from HAL . We haven't seen so much food since our daughter got married on a cruise ship . We want to do this with the family .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The group beginning to arrive . The 2 ladies with glasses took a HAL excursion in Costa Rica called A Zipline Adventure . There was a lot of rain in the mountains and 2 miles of mud that they had to hike through in the dark to get back to the ship . But we had sailed to make the time for our transit through the Panama Canal . We met2 days later in Panama , after the Canal .

 

 

 

The rest of the group