19th December 2024

We were disturbed several times around 3 am by Sue’s phone chiming to indicate a ‘push notice’, and then again at various times throughout the morning. While I had no difficulty falling back to sleep on each occasion, Sue did not. She eventually chose to quietly leave the cabin around 7 am for breakfast while I continued to snooze. I joined her in the restaurant at 8 am and was pleased to hear that, although she felt tired, she felt much better than she had the previous night.

For the first time on this trip, we watched flying fish skimming across the waves from the restaurant window, fleeing the turbulence created by the bow of the Nieuw Statendam. The sight brought back memories of a particular cruise in the Pacific, where we had been endlessly captivated by seabirds swooping and chasing the fish in hopes of a mid-air meal. We had spent hours at the bow on that cruise, likening the scene to fighter pilots in battle.

Although a full day of ship activities was on offer, we opted to spend the morning on deck. Sue immersed herself in her book while I focused on editing blogs, both of us glancing up occasionally to people-watch as a diverse cast of characters with vastly differing shapes and styles strolled past.

We decided to have brunch in one of the ship’s restaurants, where we were seated at a table with two other couples. One of the husbands turned out to be an Olympic gold medallist in the Aged Games (for those over 50), excelling in running events ranging from the 100m to the 1500m. Expecting brunch to be a lighter option than lunch, we were disappointed to find ourselves feeling overly full and somewhat let down by the menu’s creators.

In the early afternoon, Sue attended a presentation in the theatre titled ‘The Caribbean Up Close: The Islands’ Spirit (The Story of Rum)’, while I continued editing past blogs. Later, I attended a talk on ‘Using eSIMs abroad’, while Sue made her way up to the top deck to finish her book. The rising heat eventually drove her back to the cabin to cool down.

The evening meal was designated as a ‘Dressy’ affair, so we donned our finest attire for the final formal dinner of the cruise and made our way to the Dining Room. When we provided our cabin number and requested a shared table at the restaurant reception, we were surprised to be led upstairs to the reservations dining room, where we were seated alone at a table for eight. Shortly after, we were joined by a gentleman from New York, who mentioned that his friend had been refused entry for wearing shorts (rightly so, in our opinion!). We were then joined by a 73-year-old man of German origin, now living in New York. He shared that he had earlier been presented with a bottle of champagne in the theatre as a tribute to his being a passenger on the inaugural voyage of the first Holland America Line ship when he emigrated to the USA at the age of 15. His recollections of that voyage and his subsequent experiences serving in the army during the Korean War made for a fascinating dinnertime conversation.

After dinner, we were entertained in the theatre by Cassidy Robertson & Company’s ‘CLASS ACT’, a tribute to female singers from around the world, performed through song and dance. As usual, we made our rounds of the ship’s bars, enjoying the music played by various musicians and bands performing in their own unique styles. Finally, we climbed two decks to our cabin and settled in for the night.

20th December 2024

The ship anchored off Half Moon Cay for the second time on this voyage around 6 am. Passengers were disembarking by Tender Boat by 7 am, and Sue and I hit breakfast for 8 am. Thinking we had already seen pretty much of what the island had to offer, we were going to take our time going ashore and maybe do a bit of shopping.

When we were ready, along with a lot of other passengers, we picked up our Tender Boat ticket in one of the bars and expected quite a wait before disembarking, and we were surprised to be ushered to the gangway straight away. It was just a ten-minute sail to the little quay. On the way, we spotted another large Holland & America cruise ship anchored just a short distance from the Nieuw Statendam. It was going to be a packed island.

We headed for the tourist retail shops around the entrance plaza and had a good mooch around, but didn’t purchase anything. Consulting a large island map displayed on a billboard, we decided to take a walk to the area where you could feed the sting rays. It was just a leisurely fifteen-minute amble, keeping in the shade of the trees lining the sides of the sandy path. There was a group from one of the two ships already in the water with a great many large sting rays swiftly rippling their rays around the legs of the group members. We watched from a platform at the water’s edge as the fish were fed with bits of another species, some of them wriggling out of the water up the bodies of their feeders to grab the tasty morsel. It was a fascinating sight, more so for the reactions of the people rather than the rays themselves.

With the sting rays fed, large conch shells were then handed to each person, and they were encouraged to hold them high in the air with the opening of the shell facing the water. Very soon, the creature inside began to emerge and dangle from the shell. It was surprising to see how big and alien the animal looked, which lived inside what is a very pretty and ornate carapace.

Moving on, we came across a sign indicating a ‘nature trail’, following this narrow winding path through a thick forest of low trees and bushes, we came across a small sandy beach. Here, we sat in the shade of a small shelter and then cooled off by paddling in the shallow, crystal clear water of the lagoon. Refreshed, we then set off on a steep and rocky path that took us to the highest part of the island and the ruins of an ancient settlement that was now overgrown by bushes and shrubs. Whenever we ventured out of the shade, the heat of the day was making its presence felt, but thankfully, much of the path continued through dense forest.

When we eventually emerged back to civilisation, it was close to noon, and the scheduled island BBQ had been going for over an hour, so we quickly made our way there. Noting that the queue for food was enormous, we satisfied ourselves with drinks of cooling lemonade and an ice cream and made our way back to the shops. This time, Sue did purchase a few items before boarding the Tender Boat back to the ship.

Once on board, it was straight to lunch in the restaurant on Deck 9, followed by a return to the cabin to begin packing in readiness for disembarkation the following morning. During the afternoon, I attended a talk on the technical aspects of recording a holiday in photos and video while Sue listened to a solo musician in one of the bars.

Our final dinner on board was spent with two American couples, like ourselves, both disembarking tomorrow, one heading to Indiana, the other to Arizona. To round off the evening, we listened to the ship’s resident rock band before moving to another bar to catch a piano duet. We then endured a tedious performance by a multi-instrumentalist we had seen a few nights ago; we really should have known better.

Our luggage was left outside our cabin by 10:30 pm, ready for collection at midnight by the crew. Hopefully, we’ll be reunited with it shoreside in the morning. As our flight isn’t until 9:20 pm, we’ve arranged a riverboat cruise with a drop-off at Miami airport.