Our Second Port of Call - Half Moon Cay

Here we are on Day 4 of our cruise.  We are glad to not be moving again.  Last night was a very rough night of travel.  There were apparently some storms in the water and things were really rough the whole night.  I had a lot of Ginger Ale and wore my seasick bands non stop.  (You can get them at any local drug store and can also buy them on board the ship.  They were a must!)  Dinner the night before was pretty miserable for me as I was totally uncomfortable the entire time.  All I could think about was I can't wait until this boat stops.  I could have cared less about being able to get to go to another island and explore all I cared about was being able to be on solid ground. 

After our breakfast Eric and decided that we would dress for a run and go explore the island because we weren't really on a time crunch that day and really needed to get in some training for our up coming marathon.  We had planned on working out more but running on a treadmill on a crazy wobbly boat wasn't exactly as easy as we had pictured it being.  Needless to say excising was the last thing I need to do, I was having trouble standing up and not vomiting while standing still let alone bobbing up and down.  This is the part of the trip when the seasickness went to the point of no return.  At this point I hadn't felt good any of the days but then we kept moving and the water was getting worse therefore I never got a break. 

When we got downstairs and were about to go through the doorway we realized that the platform in which we were stepping onto was moving.  We were getting off of the cruise ship only to get onto a tugboat that was going to take us to the island.  SERIOUSLY, I have to ride on a stinking boat to get to land.  I was very disappointed but I was way too busy feeling crappy to complain.  I just sat there on the boat for about 20 minutes, until they filled the boat to its utmost capacity and then we were carted over to the island in which we were indeed going to step foot on dry land. 

Once we got over to the island of Half Moon Cay we were able to relax and enjoy the beauty which was this private island owned by Carnival Cruise Lines.  It really was very beautiful and extremely private except for the other 1,998 cruisers that were on the island with us.  It really was a very peaceful and serene place.  You didn't have to worry about any of the locals bothering you to take a private excursion on their yacht aka raft.  You didn't worry about someone pick pocketing your passport and you having to buy one off of them later to get back through customs.  It was safe, peaceful and calming.  We enjoying a relaxing run around the island, we went by the sea turtle feeding pool, past the swim with the dolphins tank, around the private beach day cottage rentals, past the water park and last as well as least enjoyable quickly past the horse farm, phew!  We really did have a nice time jogging around the island.  After we cooled off we hopped back on board the tug boat to go back to the ship and change into our beachwear in order to enjoy a relaxing day on the ice blue, white sandy beaches of Half Moon Cay. 

After taking many Dramamine pills I was very drugged up!  Seriously between the car ride down the 5 day cruise and the car ride back I went through a box and a half of Dramamine, count them 27 pills in 6 days.  As the trip went on I ended up taking them every 4 hours and from this 4th day on I slept through most of the trip! 

Here are a few pictures of the journey to and from the island and then more pictures that Eric took while I was passed out from the Dramamine, on the beach!

This is how far away the island was from our ship. You can actually see two tug boats in this picture, one taking people back to the ship and another next to the ship where people are loading.

A beautiful view of the surroundings.

Me sleeping on the beach.

Eric’s feet made it to the beach.

A view of our travels aboard the tug boat on our way back to ship.

After another ride back to the ship we prepared for dinner which began well enough but ended with us taking off again for a night full of travel with a whole day of travel ahead.  I was not feeling well, so Eric took me back to the room and I slept while he hang out around the boat and the casino.  At one point, not sure how much I really remember at this point of the trip, but I do know that he came into the room and woke me-up waving a fan of money.  He had been in the casino playing the slots.  This was not another slot tournament this was just him playing the machines.  Eric WON $1,400.00 on the slot machine!  He was the guy in the casino whose machine had all the bells and whistles going off because he won!!!!  He told me all about it and I think we went up stairs for a while to get some fresh air and then about an hour later I was ready to go to sleep again.  I was very excited for him, but was certainly not having my best day! 

Cruisin Tip of the Day - I think that if I were to do it again I would pick to do an excursion on the day that you are at the Island that is less known.  Typically on a cruise one island island is known like the Bahamas and the other is owned by the cruise line i.e. Half Moon Cay.  I think that it is better to do the excursion on the day that you are on the less known island:

1- because there is nothing else to do on that island besides go to the beach.

2 - because they are cheaper because the cruise line is getting all the profit because there is not another company running the excursion. 

Happy Cruisin and don't forget to tune in tomorrow for the last full day!